Much of this year has been driven by technology that is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to everyone working or schooling from home during the pandemic, there has been a pressing need for remote identity verification. Remote identity software typically operates by taking a selfie photo or video of a person, and comparing it with a known identity document held by that person. The document is then checked to determine if it is genuine and the selfie face is matched to the ID photo image from the document. A liveness check is also typically performed. Certification programmes for these applications, like FIDO IDWG, are under development.

As outlined in the State of Biometrics Report, touchless recognition is getting a boost due to COVID-19. Of course, face recognition is naturally touchless and many systems are using face. For fingerprint recognition, non-contact fingerprint systems include those which involve a photograph of the fingers, taken with a mobile device. There are also systems which are a kiosk where an individual holds or waves their hand across a sensor. Continued standards development and expanded testing is underway as this technology matures.

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COVID-19 recovery | Digital identity | Governance | Commercial use of biometrics | In the news