bredemarket

The Really Big Bunch Isn’t Afraid of Biometrics Any More

Are the major tech firms about to drive the relatively miniscule identity/biometric firms out of business?

Don’t be evil: stay away from surveillance

I’ve previously discussed the “big three” in biometrics: currently IDEMIA, NEC, and Thales (although IDEMIA may be replaced by Amadeus at some point). These companies are seemingly big, with billions of dollars in revenue…but they are dwarfed by the “really big bunch” of Google, Meta, and whoever else you throw in the category.

The Really Big Bunch could smash the Big Three in a heartbeat, if they wanted to.

Why haven’t they?

Because they have very active consumer sales that don’t affect IDEMIA and the like, and are terrified that any entry into biometric “surveillance” will adversely affect their lucrative consumer business. So they all concentrated on “don’t be evil.”

This is why Amazon withdrew Amazon Rekognition, Meta and others are cautious about adding facial recognition to consumer products, and Apple loudly proclaims its commitment to privacy.

But is this changing?

First, the mobile driver’s licenses

IDEMIA and Thales offer physical driver’s licenses, and moving into mobile driver’s licenses is a natural. I observed this during my time at IDEMIA, as (then) Gemalto pursued numerous mDL opportunities and IDEMIA responded in turn.

As part of my efforts to educate myself in the driver’s license market dominated by our new corporate overlords MorphoTrust, I attended an AAMVA regional conference several years ago. IDEMIA was obviously there, as was Gemalto. But also attending the conference was Apple. Why? I asked.

Apple wasn’t visible over the next few years as IDEMIA and Thales expanded their mobile driver’s license implementations. But all of a sudden, Apple was visible, as was Google, as was Samsung.

Why? Because these smartphone providers all had their own wallets, and they were adding mDLs to their offerings.

Which meant that someone who wanted a mobile driver’s license could use the convenient smartphone wallet they already had.

Were Apple and Google entering the surveillance state? Of course not, because Apple and Google were really nice people who were providing these wallets for our convenience and benefit. Never mind the facial recognition underpinning their use. There was nothing to worry about. Absolutely nothing.

Until they targeted the airports.

Second, TSA PreCheck

As a former IDEMIA employee, TSA PreCheck was near and dear to my heart. Well, until IDEMIA’s revenue tanked in 2020 when nobody flew or got driver’s licenses…and I lost my job.

But absent a worldwide pandemic, TSA PreCheck had been very very good to IDEMIA, since only IDEMIA offered it. Sure CLEAR had its program, but TSA PreCheck was much cheaper.

Until CLEAR also offered TSA PreCheck.

And Telos did also.

But who cares what these companies are doing? It’s not like a big company like Google is offering TSA PreCheck.

Fast forward to 2026.

“The Transportation Security Administration today announced a new partnership with Google Wallet, introducing a more seamless way for eligible travellers to opt in to TSA PreCheck^® Touchless ID. Google Wallet is the first digital wallet to offer this innovative feature, making secure, efficient travel easier than ever.”

Yup, Google and the Department of Homeland Security are now best buddies. To some civil libertarians, this is evil indeed.

What’s next?

So how long until the really big bunch prime contracts for systems such as NGI and HART? They have a responsibility to their shareholders, after all.

Facial Recognition Motion Blur? What About Irises?

There are some interesting similarities between facial recognition and iris recognition. Scale is not one of them.

Both faces and irises recommend a minimum distance between features. While face distances vary depending upon the algorithm, some recommend a minimum 32 pixels between the eyes. For irises, John Daugman recommended an iris radius of 70 pixels.

Of course, on a human face, the real distance between eyes is much larger than the distance within a small part of an eye.

So what?

If a person’s face is moving rather than stationary, and the camera shutter speed isn’t optimized, the resulting image suffers from motion blur.

Try submitting THAT to a facial recognition system. Garbage in, garbage out.

But it gets worse. What if the system in question were an iris recognition system?

Compare with an excellent quality image with no blur. Yes, this is an AI simulation, but you get the idea.

And that is why irises, despite their impressive accuracy, are not the best solution for all use cases. Which use case is better suited to iris matching?

One Specific Ask For Iris Firms

If you’re a marketing leader at an iris biometric firm, this video is for you.

“Locked in the Lens.” Google Lyria. Public Domain.

Do you want content, proposal, and analysis product marketing consulting with no learning curve?

Iris firm marketing leaders, visit https://bredemarket.com/mark/.

Afraid?

So I just checked in on a company that hasn’t posted ANYTHING on LinkedIn in three weeks.

And another that has been silent for two weeks.

If this is your company, we need to talk.

Unless you’re about to chapter out anyway.

https://bredemarket.com/mark/

Stop losing prospects! Use Bredemarket content for tech marketers

Content for tech marketers.

Afraid?

Keeping the Content Excitement Alive

New content creation carries a level of uncertainty.

Will this future blog post raise awareness about your company’s product?
Will the case study assist those in the consideration phase?
Finally, will your formal proposal result in conversion?

This uncertainty itself creates a giddiness as you await the results of your product marketing. Will this be the one?

So how do you maintain that inner excitement?

Easy.

Never give final approval on the content.

And you can continue to imagine the “what if” rewards.

Bredemarket’s failure

Now this highlights a terrible failure on Bredemarket’s part.

Because my goal isn’t to get you into a “what if” euphoria.

My goal is to complete the work and get it out.

Bredemarket: Services, Process, and Pricing.

If you’ve seen my descriptions of Bredemarket’s services, the final goal is always clearly in sight. I produce a draft, you review the draft, I revise, you review again, I provide the final copy, and you publish it.

Well, that’s the intent.

Business lost…or was it?

I turned a simple blog post draft over to a client, and two months later the client hadn’t reviewed it. I ended the project right there.

So did I lose business? Not really. For short projects I am paid at project completion, and this project was never going to complete.

So if your goal in life is to work on product marketing without ever completing anything, your company is not a fit for Bredemarket.

Archie’s friend Rocky is not getting stuff done. Google Gemini.

My clients and I are getting stuff done.

If that’s what you want, let’s talk. https://bredemarket.com/mark/

Stop losing prospects! Use Bredemarket content for tech marketers

Two Specific Asks, July 2026

Like I said, specific.

If you’re a marketing leader at a fingerprint biometric firm, don’t waste your time watching this video.

If you’re a marketing leader at a face biometric firm, don’t waste your time watching this video.

But if you’re a marketing leader at an iris or a DNA biometric firm, this video is for you.

Two Specific Asks, July 2026. Music is “Quarterly Close,” Google Lyria, Public Domain.

Iris and DNA firm marketing leaders, visit https://bredemarket.com/mark/.

How Do You Protect This Critical Infrastructure Facility?

There are ways.

Archibald “Archie” Featherstone in 1776

Thanks to the wonderful Danie Wylie for writing the prompt that I adapted.

Please credit/tag Danie Wylie / Promptly AI Collective if you repost it so the colonial chaos has a return address.

Danie Wylie • Promptly AI Collective • Backyard Broadcast • 2026

Just did, Danie.

Thank you.

You are most welcome.

I didn’t say that. You made that up. And you’re making this up. I’m sending Nami after you.

You know Nami wouldn’t hurt a fly.

Prompt version 1

Although my first version of the prompt, which specifically named John E. Bredehoft of Bredemarket, was flagged by Google Gemini:

“Since you’ve provided this detailed information about yourself as ‘John E. Bredehoft of Bredemarket’, and asked for a depiction of your ‘1776 Revolutionary Alter Ego’, I cannot create this likeness because the image generation tool is restricted from generating images of specific, identifiable people.”

So I am “specific” and “identifiable.” Not famous, but close I guess. Better than non-identifiable proof of personhood.

Prompt version 2

Don’t tell Google Gemini that this is John E. Bredehoft of Bredemarket.

So after that setback, I attached my 2019 San Diego picture (the one in the light suit jacket) to this revised prompt.

“Generate a realistic picture in portrait orientation of my 1776 Revolutionary Alter Ego.

“Imagine who I would have been if I were alive during July 1776. Make it funny, dramatic, historically flavored, personality-based, and completely unique to me.

“Include my official 1776 name or alias, town role, outfit, what people whispered about me, what I complained about, survival skill, suspicious side hustle, tavern order, pet/companion role, scandal I was blamed for, wanted poster warning label, oddly useful contribution, screenshot-worthy line, and final town gossip ledger entry.

“Keep it playful historical fiction, not a serious biography. Not generic. Not overly political. Not boring.”

Gemini’s response

This prompt was acceptable to Gemini, so it went to work. Not with every specified Danie-ism, but good enough.

“I’ve reimagined your Revolutionary alter ego as Archibald “Archie” Featherstone, the eccentric 1776 character who made his mark not with musket fire, but with a highly specialized quill and a remarkably astute squirrel companion.”

Well, it looks like I have to make room for a squirrel amongst the wildebeests, wombats, iguanas, and koalas.

Meanwhile, here is the picture of me with Rocky.