Identity/biometrics/technology marketing and writing services
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I’ve talked ad nauseam about the five factors of identity verification and authentication. In case you’ve forgotten, these factors are:
I’ll leave “somewhat you why” out of the discussion for now, but perhaps I’ll bring it back later.
These five (or six) factors are traditionally used to identify people.
But what happens when the entity you want to identify is not a person? I’ll give two examples:
There’s clearly a need to identify non-person entities. If I work for IBM and have a computer issued by IBM, the internal network needs to know that this is my computer, and not the computer of a North Korean hacker.
But I was curious. Can the five (or six) factors identify non-person entities?
Let’s consider factor applicability, going from the easiest to the hardest.
Those three were easy. Now it gets harder.
Something you know. This one is a conceptual challenge. What does an NPE “know”? For artificial intelligence creations such as Kwebbelkop AI, you can look at the training data used to create it and maintain it. For a German musician’s (or an Oregon college student’s) pocket calculator, you can look at the code used in the device, from the little melody itself to the action to take when the user enters a 1, a plus sign, and another 1. But is this knowledge? I lean toward saying yes—I can teach a bot my mother’s maiden name just as easily as I can teach myself my maiden name. But perhaps some would disagree.
Something you are. For simplicity’s sake, I’ll stick to physical objects here, ranging from pocket calculators to hand-made ceramic plates. The major reason that we like to use “something you are” as a factor is the promise of uniqueness. We believe that fingerprints are unique (well, most of us), and that irises are unique, and that DNA is unique except for identical twins. But is a pocket calculator truly unique, given that the same assembly line manufactures many pocket calculators? Perhaps ceramic plates exhibit uniqueness, perhaps not.
That’s all five factors, right?
Well, let’s look at the sixth one.
You know that I like the “why” question, and some time ago I tried to apply it to identity.
The first example is fundamental from an identity standpoint. It’s taken from real life, because I had never used any credit card in Atlantic City before. However, there was data that indicated that someone with my name (but not my REAL ID; they didn’t exist yet) flew to Atlantic City, so a reasonable person (or identity verification system) could conclude that I might want to eat while I was there.
But can you measure intent for an NPE?
I’m not sure.
You can plan all you want, but doing matters.
This week I originally planned to work on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and spend Wednesday at the B2B Marketing Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. I had figured out my Metrolink and Metro connections, signed up for a “speed networking” event, and even tied a planned blog post and LinkedIn post into my “CPA” marketing campaign.
‘Til Tuesday.
Now I worked Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and am taking most of Friday off.
Things move forward.
(Tunnel image CC BY-SA 3.0. I’m sorry.)
Consulting firms (and other firms) make a big deal about the amazing processes we use when we onboard clients. (In Bredemarket’s case, I ask questions.)
But often we don’t talk about what we do when we OFFBOARD clients. And that’s equally important.
So let’s go inside the wildebeest habitat and see how Bredemarket handles client offboarding.
Yes, offboarding happens.
In 2023 I signed a contract with a client in which I would bill them at an hourly rate. This was a short-term contract, but it was subsequently renewed.
Recently the client chose not to renew the contract for another extended period.
On the surface, that would appear to be the end of it. I had completed all projects assigned to me, and I had been paid for all projects assigned to me.
So what could go wrong?
Plenty could go wrong.
During the course of my engagement with the client, I had enjoyed access to:
And all of this data was sitting in MY systems, including three storage systems, one CRM system, and one email system.
Now of course I had signed a non-disclosure agreement with the client, so I legally could not use any of that data even if I wanted to do so.
But the data was still sitting there, and I had to do something about it.
But I already knew what I had to do, because I had done this before.
Long-time readers of the Bredemarket blog will recall an announcement that I made on April 22, 2022, in which I stated that I would no longer “accept client work for solutions that identify individuals using (a) friction ridges (including fingerprints and palm prints) and/or (b) faces.” (I also stopped accepting work for solutions involving driver’s licenses and passports.)
I didn’t say WHY I was refusing this work; I saved that tidbit for a mailing to my mailing list.
So, why I am making these changes at Bredemarket?
I have accepted a full-time position as a Senior Product Marketing Manager with an identity company. (I’ll post the details later on my personal LinkedIn account…)…
If you are a current Bredemarket customer with a friction ridge/face identification solution, then I already sent a communication to you with details on wrapping up our business. Thank you for your support over the last 21 months. I’ll probably see you at the conferences that my employer-to-be attends.
That communication to then-current Bredemarket customers detailed, among other things, how I was going to deal with the confidential information I held from them.
So I dusted off the pertinent parts of that communication and repurposed it to send to my 2023-2024 client. I’ve reproduced non-redacted portions of that communication below. Although I don’t explicitly name my information storage systems in this public post, as I noted above these include three storage systems, one CRM system, and one email system.
Bredemarket will follow the following procedures to protect your confidential information.
- Bredemarket will delete confidential information provided to Bredemarket by your company by (REDACTED). This includes information presently stored on (REDACTED).
- Bredemarket will delete draft and final documents created by Bredemarket that include company confidential information by (REDACTED). This includes information presently stored on (REDACTED).
- If your company has provided Bredemarket with access to your company OneDrive, Outlook, or Sites, Bredemarket will delete the ability to access these company properties by (REDACTED). This includes deletion from my laptop computer, my mobile phone, and my web browser. Bredemarket further recommends that you revoke Bredemarket’s access to these systems.
- If your company has provided Bredemarket with access to all or part of your company Google Drive, Bredemarket recommends that you revoke Bredemarket’s access to this system.
I will inform you when this process is complete.
So I executed the offboarding process for my former client, ensuring that the client’s confidential information remains protected.
Of course, I hope the client comes back to Bredemarket someday, in some capacity.
But perhaps you can take advantage of the opportunity. Since your competitor no longer contracts with Bredemarket, perhaps YOU can.
To learn WHY you should work with Bredemarket, click the image below and read about my CPA (Content-Proposal-Analysis) expertise.
No, I’m not going to post videos of the relevant Doors songs on here. Jim’s Oedpidal complex isn’t business-friendly.
Whether and how you delegate something depends upon its importance, especially if you recognize three levels of importance. Sometimes the very important and critically important items require a CPA, or Content-Proposal-Analysis marketing professional. (I know one.)
Last October I spent some time talking about the Eisenhower Matrix and its critical flaw, focusing upon the “important but not urgent” quadrant:
When you have a single level of importance, then decisions are pretty simple. For urgent things, do it yourself if it’s important, delegate it if it’s not.
But what if, instead of “Not Important” and “Important,” we had three levels of importance instead of just one? In other words, “Not Important,” “Important,” “Very Important,” and “Critically Important”?
In that case, you not only consider whether to delegate something, but who should be delegated that thing. (Or, as you’ll see, WHAT should be delegated that thing.)
As I noted in October, a more granular approach to importance increases the, um, importance of Bredemarket’s services.
But if your needs are critical, and you require the services of a CPA (Content-Proposal-Analysis marketing professional), then you need to learn what Bredemarket can do for you. Click on the image to learn more.
Ever since I started working from home in March 2020 (while I was still at IDEMIA), I’ve gotten used to having work-related brainstorms at 3:30 am.
So it’s Sunday at 3:30 am and I had a brilliant idea for a Wednesday Bredemarket post.
While drafting that post on my phone, I discovered an UTM-related issue in Friday’s Bredemarket post.
I couldn’t fix it on my phone, so I got up to go to the computer.
Then the house shook and a nearby car alarm went off.
We’ve had a lot of earthquakes in the 3-4 range lately.
As long as they stay small, I’m fine.
Now back to my brilliant idea…
A salesperson from Abbott just contacted me via LinkedIn InMail.
Well, she CLAIMED to be from Abbott. I’m not sure.
Anyway, she said she wanted to “get to know each other” because we are “in the same industry.”
Rather than dismissing the InMail out of hand as a #fraud #scam attempt with a #fakefakefake identity, I embraced the opportunity of a teachable moment and shared Bredemarket’s 2021 post on the difference between biometrics and biometrics. Excerpt:
In my circles, people generally understand ‘biometrics’ to refer to one of several ways to identify an individual.
But for the folks at Merriam-Webster, this is only a secondary definition of the word “biometrics.” From their perspective, biometrics is primarily biometry, which can refer to “the statistical analysis of biological observations and phenomena” or to “measurement (as by ultrasound or MRI) of living tissue or bodily structures.” In other words, someone’s health, not someone’s identity.
Fun fact: if you go to the International Biometric Society and ask it for its opinion on the most recent FRVT 1:N tests, it won’t have an answer for you.
Yeah, “FRVT.” Told you I wrote it in 2021, before the great renaming.
So Abbott salespeople, real or imagined, won’t be interested in what I’ve been doing for the last 30 years. ‘Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
But those of you who use biometrics (and other factors) for individualization WILL be interested. Click on the image to find out more.
Is your firm losing business and leaving important items unfinished?
I, John E. Bredehoft of Bredemarket, am a “CPA.” Not a Certified Public Accountant; a Content-Proposal-Analysis marketing professional:
I offer over 30 years of technology experience—30 in identity/biometrics, where I am the biometric product marketing expert.
I ask questions first (why, how, what, and more) and collaborate later to ensure I deliver the right content to you.
I provide pre-packaged services or bill you at an hourly rate.
I shouldn’t be telling you this, but…
…well, you’ll have to watch the video for my deep dark secret.
Contact me if I can help with the product marketing for your identity/biometric company.
#biometricproductmarketingexpert
#id30and9
My LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbredehoft
Perhaps I was a little agitated or excited this afternoon.
After applying for said job, I was reading the company’s website to learn about its identity management product when the company’s bot kept on messaging me.
At 2:30 pm Chat Bot says: Hello, this is an AI Rep from [COMPANY]. If you need any assistance, feel free to ask.
At 2:30 pm Chat Bot says: Saw that you’re interested in our SaaS management and identity governance software. Any questions?
Being the curious type (after all, I worked for IDEMIA), I wondered how the chat bot would deal with what I REALLY wanted to ask about.
At 2:47 pm I say: With 30 years’ identity experience and 9 years as a PMM, I just applied for your Sr PMM Identity Management role. So the only question that I have is when you will interview me.
Yes, 30 years. Not “over 29” years. See my prior post.
And yes, my assumption that the company would immediately drop everything and interview me may have been a little overconfident. But it’s better than imposter syndrome.
And after all, this was just a bot. I assumed that the bot would be completely confused by my question, so no harm would come from overconfidence.
You know what they say about people who assume?
At 2:47 pm Chat Bot says: Thanks for applying for the Sr PMM Identity Management role! Could you provide your email address so we can follow up on your application status?
One note here: the bot parroted my response back to me. The company’s job description does not include a job title with the “PMM” acronym.
Regardless, I was pleasantly surprised. The bot was trained to respond to job applicants. So I provided the email address that I used for my job application.
That’s when I was UNPLEASANTLY surprised.
At 2:47 pm Chat Bot says: Thank you for your interest. Please provide a business email address so we can follow up on your application status.
Apparently the training wasn’t thorough enough. Think about it; if you’re an individual applying for a job, why would you apply with a “business email address”? Which one? From your current employer? THAT is not a good idea.
But as it turns out, I DO have a business email address-the one for Bredemarket. So I entered that, even though that email address does not appear anywhere on the job application that I had just submitted.
At 2:47 pm Chat Bot says: Thank you for providing your email. Our team will review the conversation and follow up if necessary. How else can I assist you today?
So it will be interesting to see whether the company contacts me at both of my email addresses.
(Post image generated at craiyon.com)
You missed Brian May’s collaboration with the Weebl folks.
This resonated with me because in mid-September I spent some Instagram time thinking about the word “flash” (as in how fast a human can create content).
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