Legislation is naturally subject to change as governments come and go. It can also vary widely between jurisdictions and cultures, as can methods and capabilities related to enforcing legislation.

However, the general public’s expectations of governments or organisations which process its biometric data remains the same – respect for the personal privacy and general security of individuals. And while recognising the centrality of individual impacts, these governance frameworks should not inhibit innovation, but should provide appropriate support for the necessary and proportionate use of biometric technologies and the subsequent processing of biometric data.

This chapter of the State of Biometrics Report covers legislation, public perception and ethics, accessibility and inclusion, and standards and testing. 

To read the full report, become a member. Details on membership benefits and how to apply can be found here.

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

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The Biometrics Institute welcomes the latest research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which offers the biometric community further insights into bias – otherwise known as demographic differentials.

Ultimately, biometrics is an extremely accurate but probabilistic technology, incredibly useful for searching large datasets quickly in ways that humans could not achieve. It is constantly being improved through testing including by independent organisations such as NIST. According to NIST, facial recognition technology today is 20 times more accurate than it was just a few years ago.

The issue of bias in biometric and AI systems has been a significant focus of public attention recently. NIST’s Part 3 of its Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) demonstrates for some algorithms there can be situations where bias can arise.

The Biometrics Institute reinforces to its members the importance of knowing the algorithm they are working with. Biometrics Institute members, acting responsibly and ethically, should work with a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the underlying technology. They should also have procedural safeguards and effective oversight in place to govern its application to protect human rights and privacy. In addition, they should consider independent testing of their algorithm.

“Biometric technology can be an effective tool to assist in identification and verification in an array of use cases. These range from the convenience of using your face to unlock your phone, to getting through passport control quicker, to the reassurance that a face can be found in a crowd far quicker with the assistance of technology than relying on a human alone. However, when we think of the word bias we tend to consider it as a pre-meditated, closed-minded and prejudicial human trait. It’s important to remember that technology cannot behave in this way. So-called bias in biometric systems may exist because the data provided to train the system is not sufficiently diverse. That is why in cases including law enforcement and counter-terrorism the human in the loop – to verify the algorithm’s findings – is often a critical aspect of using the technology.”

Isabelle Moeller, Chief Executive, Biometrics Institute

The Biometrics Institute recognises that, as with any technology, the convenience of its use comes with challenges. It takes human rights, privacy, spoofing, morphing and bias seriously and works diligently with its members, expert groups and the wider biometrics community to provide new, and update existing guidance to mitigate the risks. It provides regular events and training courses around the world to share and grow knowledge.

Patrick Grother – one of the authors of this report – presents regular workshops on bias for the Biometrics Institute. He will be speaking on bias in biometrics and demographic differentials at the institute’s US Conference on 24 March 2020 in Washington DC.

ENDS

Further reading:

The UN Compendium for the Responsible Use of Biometrics in Counter-Terrorism – co-authored by the Biometrics Institute which includes the section:

Ethical Principles for Biometrics

Notes to editors:

The Biometrics Institute’s US Conference is on 24-25 March in Washington DC. Confirmed speakers include:

• Patrick Grother, Biometric Standards and Testing Lead,National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
• John Howard, Data Scientist,The Maryland Test Facility
• Frank Torres, Senior Policy Director,Microsoft
• Clare Garvie, Senior Associate, Center on Privacy and Technology,Georgetown University
• Jay Stanley, Senior Policy Analyst, Speech, Privacy and Technology Program,American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
• Arun Vemury, Director, Biometric and Identity Technology Center, US Department of Homeland  Security

The Biometrics Institute is the independent and impartial international membership organisation for biometric users and other interested parties. It was established in 2001 to promote the responsible use of biometrics and has offices in London and Sydney.

With more than a thousand members from 240 membership organisations spread across 30 countries, it represents a global and diverse multi-stakeholder community. This includes banks, airlines, government agencies, biometric experts, privacy experts, suppliers and academics.

The Biometrics Institute connects the global biometrics community. It shares knowledge with its members and key stakeholders and most importantly, develops good-practices and thought leadership for the responsible and ethical use of biometrics.

For more information, please email Claire Fox Baron: clairefb@biometricsinstitute.org

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21 May 2019

Biometrics Institute calls for all law enforcement agencies, border management and governments to use existing good practices to ensure responsible use of biometrics

The Biometrics Institute is urging organisations to make use of existing good practice guidelines to prevent public confidence being undermined in the application of biometrics with policing and counter-terrorist procedures.

And in response to recent headlines around the misuse of facial recognition technology, it warns that if technology is applied without properly addressing potential flaws, then regulators may opt to restrict usage until they – and industry – can ensure proper privacy protections. 

The Institute plays a key role in informed, international discussion on the responsible and ethical use of biometrics and the limitations of the technology.

In the absence of international law and standards on biometrics, the Biometrics Institute has released a range of good practice guidelines to help organisations assess and implement responsible and ethical use in biometrics. It is now strongly recommending that organisations follow these guidelines to ensure biometrics are used appropriately.

These available guidelines have been compiled specifically for – and with the expertise of – the international member organisation’s multi-stakeholder community. They include Privacy Guidelines, Ethical Principles for Biometrics, Top Ten Vulnerability Questions and the United Nations Compendium of Recommended Practices for the Responsible Use and Sharing of Biometrics in Counter-Terrorism.

The Biometrics Institute has been working with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and the Office of Counter-Terrorism (OCT) since 2017. It was asked to help compile the UN’s Compendium of Recommended Practices for the Responsible Use and Sharing of Biometrics in Counter-Terrorism, which was launched in 2018.

The compendium is a 96-page high level overview of biometric technology and operating systems in the context of counter-terrorism. It includes:

• The governance and regulatory requirements for biometric technology from the perspectives on international law, human rights law, ethical reviews, data protection requirements and the right to privacy
• Potential vulnerabilities of biometric systems and some of the control measures that can be used to mitigate the risks
• Actions taken by authorities as a result of biometric matches, considered within the context of international human rights and the need for a fully-informed, lawful and proportionate response

“Biometric technology has the potential to aid and accelerate identification when used carefully by trained humans, following proper processes and using the technology in the way it was originally intended. But it is vital that anyone using biometrics to identify individuals follows responsible and ethical guidelines to avoid people suffering from the consequences of the technology not being managed properly.” 

“In cross-border terrorist investigations for example, strict protocols must be followed. The contextual assessment of biometric ‘hits’ is critical. Governments need to liaise effectively and confidentially so that any potential suspect is interviewed discreetly and can potentially be eliminated from the enquiry immediately – without undue publicity. Tight controls must be exercised and human rights and the right to appeal must be respected, as stressed in the United Nations compendium.”

Isabelle Moeller – Chief Executive, Biometrics Institute

Other reading:

United Nations’ Compendium of Recommended Practices for the Responsible Use and Sharing of Biometrics in Counter-Terrorism

United Nations’ Compendium summary brochure

Ethical Principles for Biometrics  

Privacy Guidelines

Notes to editors:

The Biometrics Institute is the independent and impartial international membership organisation for biometric users and other interested parties. It was established in 2001 to promote the responsible use of biometrics.

It has more than a thousand members from 240 membership organisations spread across 30 countries. It represents a multi-stakeholder community including government agencies, biometric experts, privacy experts, suppliers and academics.

The Biometrics Institute connects the global biometrics community, provides information to its members and key stakeholders and most importantly, develops good practices and thought-leadership for the responsible and ethical use of biometrics.

For more information, please email Claire Fox Baron: clairefb@biometricsinstitute.org

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On 29 June, the Compendium was officially released and presented during a high-level conference of the heads of Member States’ counter-terrorism agencies at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York. Isabelle Moeller was in attendance and had the opportunity to speak about the important work of the Institute and our commitment to this crucial initiative.

The Compendium, the first of its kind ever to be procured, is a living document that will be adapted to future changes in both biometric technology and the threat of terrorism. The objective now is to strengthen the awareness, knowledge and capabilities of Member States through targeted regional workshops.

The Compendium will be used as a practical guidance tool during these workshops and will help to address developments in biometrics in the context of counter-terrorism. The workshops will also be an opportunity to reach out to Member States who lack the capacity to effectively and properly develop and implement systems to collect and share biometric data responsibly.

The Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) will organise the workshops with assistance from the Biometrics Institute, along with relevant regional and international organisations. The role of the Institute will be to provide expert consultants to run the workshops and ensure that all of the sections of the Compendium are understood, from system selection and implementation, right through to the protection of human rights.

The Institute will promote our existing guiding material, such as the Biometrics Institute Privacy Guidelines, which we will recommend are used alongside the Compendium. We will also draw from our collective pool of experts and consultants in our membership base for support. There may also be opportunities for vendors to sponsor or attend workshops. After all, the goal is to put biometric systems in place in regions that need them; those regions will need help in choosing what to buy and will need to buy them from somewhere.

Our working partners from CTED, Mr Jean-Philippe Morange and Ms Anne-Marie Seesmaa will join us for our London Congress week in October and will attend our ID@Borders and the Future of Travel event in Vienna next April.

We are also very proud to share the sentiments expressed by Mr Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General, United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, at the launch of the Compendium in New York.

Mr. Voronkov welcomed this joint initiative and expressed his appreciation for the technical expertise provided by the Biometric Institute in the production of the Compendium. He emphasised that mutual cooperation among international organisations was in line with the UN principle of “Delivering as One”. In addition, it provided a concrete and practical example for other regional and national organisations that also aimed to have a similar integrated and collaborative approach in addressing the key challenges of the fight against terrorism.

And from Ms Michèle Coninsx, Assistant-Secretary General, Executive Director, Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate: Ms Coninsx noted that in resolution 2396 (2017), the Security Council decided that Member States shall develop and implement systems to collect biometric data in order to responsibly and properly identify terrorists, including foreign terrorist fighters and to share this data responsibly among relevant Member States and with INTERPOL and other relevant international bodies. Ms Coninsx recognised the instrumental role played by the Biometrics Institute and praised the Compendium as a unique resource and guidance material on the use of Biometrics in the Counter-terrorism context which also takes into consideration the challenges related to this topic.

UN entities and international and regional organisations must cooperate and coordinate effectively to identify further ways to provide targeted and effective assistance to Member States. UN entities must also work together in a coherent and coordinated manner to avoid overlap and duplication of efforts. The CTITF Working Group on Law enforcement and Border management, chaired by CTED, offers a great framework and has been developing this Compendium, as the first phase of a UN initiative that also requires us, in a second phase, to bring this material to member states via awareness raising regional activities. This Phase 2 requires even more joint and combined efforts within the UN, with private sector and key donors.

“As our work becomes more complex and more focused on certain thematic areas, including Biometrics, I trust that we can continue to rely upon invaluable support and expertise from the Biometrics Institute, a key partner of CTED, who brings its experience on the responsible use of Biometrics”, Ms Coninsx stated.

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2015 Survey Summary

2015 Full Report

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A Compendium of Good and Recommended Practices on the Responsible Use and Sharing of Biometrics in Identifying Terrorists

There is currently a concerning lack of biometric information being gathered and shared across international borders on known and suspected terrorists.

In response to the Security Council’s Resolution 2322, which calls upon its member states to share biometric data on foreign terrorist fighters, the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (UNCTED) and the Biometrics Institute are working together to produce a Compendium of existing good practices and recommendations for the collection, storing and sharing of biometric information. The Compendium will be developed within the framework of the United Nations Counter Terrorism Center (UNCCT) of the Office of Counter-terrorism (OCT). The group comprises important actors involved in biometrics such as ICAO, IOM, UNHCR, UNOIDC, OIPC-INTERPOL, IMO and others. The Compendium will be the first reference material of its kind to be produced and made available at UN or international level.

States are being asked to share data collected at border security, customs and immigration via regional and global law enforcement channels with trusted partners such as INTERPOL. The Compendium will provide technical implementation considerations and good practice guidance, including the need to protect privacy and personal data, and will highlight the importance of understanding the potential for error in the collection of biometric data.

The Biometrics Institute has formed an international consortium of experts from UN entities, governmental origins and biometric experts with a background in counter-terrorism, law enforcement, border management, biometric technology, privacy and data protection to write, edit and review the content of the Compendium.

The Biometrics Institute is incredibly proud to have been invited to be a part of this critical and timely project. A new Resolution from the Security Council adopted under chapter 7, Resolution 2396, just announced in December 2017, unanimously adopted, once again specifically calls for all UN members to collect biometric data and establish watchlists of known and suspected terrorists.

UNCTED and the Biometrics Institute aim to launch the Compendium in June 2018. Phase 2 (dependent on additional funding) will involve running regional workshops, starting with high priority countries that most need to start adopting biometric technologies.

We will provide an update on this project at our upcoming ID@Borders Conference in Brussels on the 18-19 April 2018. 

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Face recognition is used to prove identity across a wide variety of settings. Despite this, research consistently shows that people are typically rather poor at matching faces to photos. Some professional groups, such as police and passport officers, have been shown to perform just as poorly as the general public on standard tests of face recognition. However, face recognition skills are subject to wide individual variation, with some people showing exceptional ability—a group that has come to be known as ‘super-recognisers’. The Metropolitan Police Force (London) recruits ‘super-recognisers’ from within its ranks, for deployment on various identification tasks. Here we test four working super-recognisers from within this police force, and ask whether they are really able to perform at levels above control groups. We consistently find that the police ‘super-recognisers’ perform at well above normal levels on tests of unfamiliar and familiar face matching, with degraded as well as high quality images. Recruiting employees with high levels of skill in these areas, and allocating them to relevant tasks, is an efficient way to overcome some of the known difficulties associated with unfamiliar face recognition.

Full report: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0150036 

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Biometrics Institute Industry Tracker 2017

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Highlights: further evidence that mobile solutions are gaining traction with more functionality, more programmes and more users; new examples of collaboration between countries. Important workshop on how to start a new mobile programme

ENLETS Mobile Meeting Notes September 2016

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It was presented at BTAS 2016, Niagara Falls, Buffalo, USA

Human Iris Recognition in Post-mortem Subjects: Study and Database

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