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Detroit Police cleared to use $1m facial ID system – with strict limits
TECHNOLOGY
www.biometricstoday.com
ISSN 0969-4765 October 2019
law enforcement
Contents
Detroit Police cleared to use $1m facial ID system – with strict limits • New policy avoids outright FR ban, despite protests • Could offer model for other cities to follow
T
he City of Detroit’s Police Department has been given the go-ahead to keep using its DataWorks facial recognition system, despite protests from opponents of the technology including high-profile US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. Detroit’s civilian Board of Police Commissioners (DBOPC) gave their approval on 12 September by a majority vote of 8-3. But they have imposed strict limits on the police’s use of DataWorks’ FACE Watch Plus real-time video surveillance and FACE Plus FR solutions, which Detroit first acquired in July 2017 for just over $1 million. The city’s police chief, James Craig, welcomed the decision saying: “This is a great day. We all win. Families win. The city wins.” Craig said the technology has already been used to identify suspects in numerous violent crimes. But the Metro Times news site reported that Commissioner Willie Burton, who opposed his Board’s decision, commented: “Today was a setback in the fight for civil liberties and democracy. By approving this policy, the DBOPC showed it doesn’t care about the voice of the people and is just an appendage of the Police Department.” The backing for FR technology – despite its reported race and gender bias – is striking in a city where an estimated 80% of residents are black. And it came after months of consultation involving protests by Detroit residents, privacy campaign groups and high-profile politicians. On 20 August Democrat Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib sent a strongly worded tweet to the Detroit Police, telling them: “You should probably rethink this whole facial recognition bulls••t.”
TODAY
biometric Detroit’s go-ahead also runs counter to the decisions by other US cities – including San Francisco, Oakland and Somerville – to completely ban the use of FR surveillance for law enforcement. And worldwide, there have been calls for government legislation to restrict the use of FR surveillance in the face of public concerns over its intrusion and potential inaccuracy. Detroit’s new FR ‘acceptable use’ policy, which other police and law enforcement departments could now potentially follow, sets out a series of safeguards. Detroit police can access still images only, not the city’s real-time video surveillance camera network. And the FR technology can only be used to investigate violent crimes – like robbery, sexual assault or murder – and home invasions. The policy also insists on: • No FR searches on individuals based on their race, age, gender, sexual orientation, or their religious, political or social views. • No use of FR to assess a person’s immigration status or identify people at political protests. • No sharing of images with private companies. • No use of mobile facial recognition. • No use of FR for predictive analytics. • Dismissal and possible criminal charges for anyone found abusing the system. The Detroit News website even reports that Detroit dropped one key possible feature from the new policy: the ability to use the technology to scan faces in real time if there’s a terrorist threat. The new directive stresses that any hits from an FR search must be confirmed by three examiners and that matches can only be treated “as an investigative lead and not a positive identification of any subject. Any possible Continued on page 2...
News Detroit Police cleared to use $1m facial ID system – with strict limits
1
Globally citizens support state use of facial ID
2
Hitachi: wave goodbye to passwords
2
Amazon writes its own rules
3
Chinese unveil ‘super camera’
11
Biometric gun holsters go on sale
11
University develops ID system using ear canal
11
US seeks long-range biometrics
12
Features Rethinking customer on-boarding: why banks should embrace biometrics 5 Many potential bank customers are abandoning their on-boarding part-way through the process, frustrated by the poor user experience. So banks need to create slick and compelling on-boarding experiences, and biometric-driven improvements like signing up customers through a selfie or fingerprinting will help. But that alone is not enough, says John Erik Setsaas of Signicat. Ultimate password: is voice the best biometric to beat hackers?
8
As biometric systems progressively replace passwords, the question remains: do all biometrics offer an equal level of security? Piergiorgio Vittori of Spitch looks at the latest developments in voice recognition systems, and how these systems compare with fingerprints, iris and facial recognition in delivering fast authentication while keeping the hackers and fraudsters at bay. Regulars Events Calendar
3
News in Brief
4
Product News
4
Company News
4
Comment
12
Visit us @ www.biometricstoday.com
ISSN 0969-4765/19 © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This journal and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to their use:
Visit us @
Photocopying Single photocopies of single articles may be made for personal use as allowed by national copyright laws. Permission of the publisher and payment of a fee is required for all other photocopying, including multiple or systematic copying, copying for advertising or promotional purposes, resale, and all forms of document delivery. Special rates are available for educational institutions that wish to make photocopies for non-profit eduwww.membrane-technology.com cational classroom use.
NEWS
Editorial Office: Elsevier Ltd The Boulevard Langford Lane Kidlington Oxford OX5 1GB, UK Tel: +44 1865 843239 Email: [email protected] Website: www.biometricstoday.com Publishing Director: Sarah Jenkins Editor: Tim Ring Email: [email protected] Production Support Manager: Lin Lucas Email: [email protected] Subscription Information An annual subscription to Biometric Technology Today includes 10 issues and online access for up to 5 users. Subscriptions run for 12 months, from the date payment is received. More information: www.elsevier.com/journals/institutional/biometric-technology-today/0969-4765 This newsletter and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to their use: Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier Global Rights Department, PO Box 800, Oxford OX5 1DX, UK; phone: +44 1865 843830, fax: +44 1865 853333, email: [email protected]. You may also contact Global Rights directly through Elsevier’s home page (www.elsevier.com), selecting first ‘Support & contact’, then ‘Copyright & permission’. In the USA, users may clear permissions and make payments through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; phone: +1 978 750 8400, fax: +1 978 750 4744, and in the UK through the Copyright Licensing Agency Rapid Clearance Service (CLARCS), 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP, UK; phone: +44 (0)20 7631 5555; fax: +44 (0)20 7631 5500. Other countries may have a local reprographic rights agency for payments. Derivative Works Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution. Permission of the Publisher is required for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. Electronic Storage or Usage Permission of the Publisher is required to store or use electronically any material contained in this journal, including any article or part of an article. Except as outlined above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the Publisher. Address permissions requests to: Elsevier Science Global Rights Department, at the mail, fax and email addresses noted above. Notice No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made.Although all advertising material is expected to conform to ethical (medical) standards, inclusion in this publication does not constitute a guarantee or endorsement of the quality or value of such product or of the claims made of it by its manufacturer.
12985 Digitally Produced by Mayfield Press (Oxford) Ltd
2
Biometric Technology Today
...Continued from front page involvement of any subject must be determined through further investigation.” Detroit also insists that the use of FR images must be overseen by an assigned Local Agency Security Officer and the commander of its police’s Crime Intelligence Unit. It also stipulates security to protect the biometric data involved, and audit trails on who the data is released to when. Detroit currently has a three-year contract with South Carolina-based DataWorks Plus, which provides a range of fingerprint, iris and facial ID systems and other technology to over 1,000 law enforcement, criminal justice and government agencies in the US, as well as a country-wide system in New Zealand. The company’s FACE Plus system comprises facial recognition and case management software, while FACE Watch Plus uses facial searching algorithms to monitor live surveillance video streams and identify faces in real time. An ‘America Under Watch’ report, published in May by the Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology, criticised the Detroit system, warning that it could connect to the city’s network of over 500 Motorola surveillance cameras, installed under its Project Green Light. The report also warned that the DataWorks Plus contract enabled an unlimited number of Detroit police officers to run face recognition searches on their mobile devices against the city’s database of 500,000 mugshots.
social attitudes
Globally citizens support state use of facial ID
T
wo-thirds of people in 26 countries support the use of artificial intelligence and facial recognition by their government to maintain order – but only subject to strict regulations. That’s the finding of a survey of just over 20,000 adults by research company Ipsos for the World Economic Forum. The study shows that supporters of a total ban on FR are a minority in every one of the countries surveyed. On the other hand, only 19% of the respondents said government use of facial recognition should be allowed as much as needed, even at the risk of citizens giving up their privacy. A majority of citizens in all 26 countries supported the limited government use of AI and facial recognition – with backers ranging from 54% of people in Sweden to 74% in Malaysia. Support for allowing governments to use AI and facial recognition as much as needed
– even at the risk of citizens giving up their privacy – ranges from as high as 32% in India and 30% in Sweden to just 10% in Japan, 11% in Hungary and 12% in Canada. Globally, males (22%) are more likely to be of this opinion than females (17%). Those who prefer a total ban make up at the most one quarter of the public in any country: 24% in Germany and 23% in the UK, but only 6% in Peru and 9% in South Korea. Globally, people with a lower level of education (19%) are more likely to support banning government use of AI and facial recognition under any circumstances than are people with a university-level education (12%). The 26 countries surveyed were Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the UK and US. Ipsos is the world’s third largest market research company.
innovation
Hitachi: wave goodbye to passwords
H
itachi has launched what it claims is “first-of-its-kind” biometric technology that allows people to unlock their computer or phone by simply raising their hand. Hitachi’s new ‘hand gesture’ technology uses finger vein scanning to verify identity. The individual simply raises their hand in front of their device’s in-built camera and the Hitachi system captures the image. When the user subsequently holds up their hand, the technology uses an ambient light spectrum to analyse the finger vein patterns, and check they match the registered, encrypted user template. Once verified, the system performs Windows authentication in under five seconds and allows the user access. Announcing the new technology last month, Hitachi claims it could completely remove the need for passwords among IT users: “The intuitive biometric finger vein scanning technology is set to revolutionise computer security, challenging facial recognition, fingerprint scanning and password security as the easiest and most secure method of authentication,” the company said. Hitachi’s general manager of security business in EMEA and north America, Ravi Ahluwalia, added: “We have known for years the fallibilities of current authentication methods, but a viable alternative wasn’t available. Our new hand gesture technology provides a major step forward, both for the user who doesn’t have to remember
October 2019
www.biometricstoday.com
ISSN 0969-4765 October 2019
law enforcement
Contents
Detroit Police cleared to use $1m facial ID system – with strict limits • New policy avoids outright FR ban, despite protests • Could offer model for other cities to follow
T
he City of Detroit’s Police Department has been given the go-ahead to keep using its DataWorks facial recognition system, despite protests from opponents of the technology including high-profile US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. Detroit’s civilian Board of Police Commissioners (DBOPC) gave their approval on 12 September by a majority vote of 8-3. But they have imposed strict limits on the police’s use of DataWorks’ FACE Watch Plus real-time video surveillance and FACE Plus FR solutions, which Detroit first acquired in July 2017 for just over $1 million. The city’s police chief, James Craig, welcomed the decision saying: “This is a great day. We all win. Families win. The city wins.” Craig said the technology has already been used to identify suspects in numerous violent crimes. But the Metro Times news site reported that Commissioner Willie Burton, who opposed his Board’s decision, commented: “Today was a setback in the fight for civil liberties and democracy. By approving this policy, the DBOPC showed it doesn’t care about the voice of the people and is just an appendage of the Police Department.” The backing for FR technology – despite its reported race and gender bias – is striking in a city where an estimated 80% of residents are black. And it came after months of consultation involving protests by Detroit residents, privacy campaign groups and high-profile politicians. On 20 August Democrat Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib sent a strongly worded tweet to the Detroit Police, telling them: “You should probably rethink this whole facial recognition bulls••t.”
TODAY
biometric Detroit’s go-ahead also runs counter to the decisions by other US cities – including San Francisco, Oakland and Somerville – to completely ban the use of FR surveillance for law enforcement. And worldwide, there have been calls for government legislation to restrict the use of FR surveillance in the face of public concerns over its intrusion and potential inaccuracy. Detroit’s new FR ‘acceptable use’ policy, which other police and law enforcement departments could now potentially follow, sets out a series of safeguards. Detroit police can access still images only, not the city’s real-time video surveillance camera network. And the FR technology can only be used to investigate violent crimes – like robbery, sexual assault or murder – and home invasions. The policy also insists on: • No FR searches on individuals based on their race, age, gender, sexual orientation, or their religious, political or social views. • No use of FR to assess a person’s immigration status or identify people at political protests. • No sharing of images with private companies. • No use of mobile facial recognition. • No use of FR for predictive analytics. • Dismissal and possible criminal charges for anyone found abusing the system. The Detroit News website even reports that Detroit dropped one key possible feature from the new policy: the ability to use the technology to scan faces in real time if there’s a terrorist threat. The new directive stresses that any hits from an FR search must be confirmed by three examiners and that matches can only be treated “as an investigative lead and not a positive identification of any subject. Any possible Continued on page 2...
News Detroit Police cleared to use $1m facial ID system – with strict limits
1
Globally citizens support state use of facial ID
2
Hitachi: wave goodbye to passwords
2
Amazon writes its own rules
3
Chinese unveil ‘super camera’
11
Biometric gun holsters go on sale
11
University develops ID system using ear canal
11
US seeks long-range biometrics
12
Features Rethinking customer on-boarding: why banks should embrace biometrics 5 Many potential bank customers are abandoning their on-boarding part-way through the process, frustrated by the poor user experience. So banks need to create slick and compelling on-boarding experiences, and biometric-driven improvements like signing up customers through a selfie or fingerprinting will help. But that alone is not enough, says John Erik Setsaas of Signicat. Ultimate password: is voice the best biometric to beat hackers?
8
As biometric systems progressively replace passwords, the question remains: do all biometrics offer an equal level of security? Piergiorgio Vittori of Spitch looks at the latest developments in voice recognition systems, and how these systems compare with fingerprints, iris and facial recognition in delivering fast authentication while keeping the hackers and fraudsters at bay. Regulars Events Calendar
3
News in Brief
4
Product News
4
Company News
4
Comment
12
Visit us @ www.biometricstoday.com
ISSN 0969-4765/19 © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This journal and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to their use:
Visit us @
Photocopying Single photocopies of single articles may be made for personal use as allowed by national copyright laws. Permission of the publisher and payment of a fee is required for all other photocopying, including multiple or systematic copying, copying for advertising or promotional purposes, resale, and all forms of document delivery. Special rates are available for educational institutions that wish to make photocopies for non-profit eduwww.membrane-technology.com cational classroom use.
NEWS
Editorial Office: Elsevier Ltd The Boulevard Langford Lane Kidlington Oxford OX5 1GB, UK Tel: +44 1865 843239 Email: [email protected] Website: www.biometricstoday.com Publishing Director: Sarah Jenkins Editor: Tim Ring Email: [email protected] Production Support Manager: Lin Lucas Email: [email protected] Subscription Information An annual subscription to Biometric Technology Today includes 10 issues and online access for up to 5 users. Subscriptions run for 12 months, from the date payment is received. More information: www.elsevier.com/journals/institutional/biometric-technology-today/0969-4765 This newsletter and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to their use: Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier Global Rights Department, PO Box 800, Oxford OX5 1DX, UK; phone: +44 1865 843830, fax: +44 1865 853333, email: [email protected]. You may also contact Global Rights directly through Elsevier’s home page (www.elsevier.com), selecting first ‘Support & contact’, then ‘Copyright & permission’. In the USA, users may clear permissions and make payments through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; phone: +1 978 750 8400, fax: +1 978 750 4744, and in the UK through the Copyright Licensing Agency Rapid Clearance Service (CLARCS), 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP, UK; phone: +44 (0)20 7631 5555; fax: +44 (0)20 7631 5500. Other countries may have a local reprographic rights agency for payments. Derivative Works Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution. Permission of the Publisher is required for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. Electronic Storage or Usage Permission of the Publisher is required to store or use electronically any material contained in this journal, including any article or part of an article. Except as outlined above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the Publisher. Address permissions requests to: Elsevier Science Global Rights Department, at the mail, fax and email addresses noted above. Notice No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made.Although all advertising material is expected to conform to ethical (medical) standards, inclusion in this publication does not constitute a guarantee or endorsement of the quality or value of such product or of the claims made of it by its manufacturer.
12985 Digitally Produced by Mayfield Press (Oxford) Ltd
2
Biometric Technology Today
...Continued from front page involvement of any subject must be determined through further investigation.” Detroit also insists that the use of FR images must be overseen by an assigned Local Agency Security Officer and the commander of its police’s Crime Intelligence Unit. It also stipulates security to protect the biometric data involved, and audit trails on who the data is released to when. Detroit currently has a three-year contract with South Carolina-based DataWorks Plus, which provides a range of fingerprint, iris and facial ID systems and other technology to over 1,000 law enforcement, criminal justice and government agencies in the US, as well as a country-wide system in New Zealand. The company’s FACE Plus system comprises facial recognition and case management software, while FACE Watch Plus uses facial searching algorithms to monitor live surveillance video streams and identify faces in real time. An ‘America Under Watch’ report, published in May by the Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology, criticised the Detroit system, warning that it could connect to the city’s network of over 500 Motorola surveillance cameras, installed under its Project Green Light. The report also warned that the DataWorks Plus contract enabled an unlimited number of Detroit police officers to run face recognition searches on their mobile devices against the city’s database of 500,000 mugshots.
social attitudes
Globally citizens support state use of facial ID
T
wo-thirds of people in 26 countries support the use of artificial intelligence and facial recognition by their government to maintain order – but only subject to strict regulations. That’s the finding of a survey of just over 20,000 adults by research company Ipsos for the World Economic Forum. The study shows that supporters of a total ban on FR are a minority in every one of the countries surveyed. On the other hand, only 19% of the respondents said government use of facial recognition should be allowed as much as needed, even at the risk of citizens giving up their privacy. A majority of citizens in all 26 countries supported the limited government use of AI and facial recognition – with backers ranging from 54% of people in Sweden to 74% in Malaysia. Support for allowing governments to use AI and facial recognition as much as needed
– even at the risk of citizens giving up their privacy – ranges from as high as 32% in India and 30% in Sweden to just 10% in Japan, 11% in Hungary and 12% in Canada. Globally, males (22%) are more likely to be of this opinion than females (17%). Those who prefer a total ban make up at the most one quarter of the public in any country: 24% in Germany and 23% in the UK, but only 6% in Peru and 9% in South Korea. Globally, people with a lower level of education (19%) are more likely to support banning government use of AI and facial recognition under any circumstances than are people with a university-level education (12%). The 26 countries surveyed were Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the UK and US. Ipsos is the world’s third largest market research company.
innovation
Hitachi: wave goodbye to passwords
H
itachi has launched what it claims is “first-of-its-kind” biometric technology that allows people to unlock their computer or phone by simply raising their hand. Hitachi’s new ‘hand gesture’ technology uses finger vein scanning to verify identity. The individual simply raises their hand in front of their device’s in-built camera and the Hitachi system captures the image. When the user subsequently holds up their hand, the technology uses an ambient light spectrum to analyse the finger vein patterns, and check they match the registered, encrypted user template. Once verified, the system performs Windows authentication in under five seconds and allows the user access. Announcing the new technology last month, Hitachi claims it could completely remove the need for passwords among IT users: “The intuitive biometric finger vein scanning technology is set to revolutionise computer security, challenging facial recognition, fingerprint scanning and password security as the easiest and most secure method of authentication,” the company said. Hitachi’s general manager of security business in EMEA and north America, Ravi Ahluwalia, added: “We have known for years the fallibilities of current authentication methods, but a viable alternative wasn’t available. Our new hand gesture technology provides a major step forward, both for the user who doesn’t have to remember
October 2019