Tag Archives: IDEMIA

My Algorithm is American Made

The United States of America, like many other countries, displays patriotism. One example is the Oak Ridge Boys song “American Made.”

And the United States of America, like many other countries, commercializes patriotism. One example is the Miller commercial “Made the American Way.”

At the time this commercial was filmed, Miller WAS American made, under the ownership of Philip Morris. Today, of course, Miller is NOT solely American made, with the company owned by Molson Coors with headquarters and executive offices in Chicago, Montreal, and Golden Colorado. Its brand competitor Budweiser is Belgian made.

I am very familiar with cross-border ownership, having worked for Safran (French headquarters) and IDEMIA (French headquarters, but primarily owned by a U.S. investment firm). So when someone asks whether IDEMIA is a U.S. company or a French company, the proper answer is “yes.”

IDEMIA’s major competitors, NEC and Thales, are non-U.S. owned.

And if the Amadeus deal goes through, an American investment firm will NOT own the new entity.

But there are U.S. biometric firms. Bredemarket works or has worked for multiple U.S.-owned/headquartered biometric companies.

One company that is not (yet) a Bredemarket client is ROC (a/k/a Rank One Computing). Since it works with U.S. security agencies, you can bet that ROC echoes the Oak Ridge boys in its marketing. Josh Engelsma:

“For decades, large-scale U.S. biometric identity systems have relied heavily on foreign fingerprint providers. ROC’s performance in the NIST FRIF TE E1N evaluation, including #1 global ranking in Class B slap fingerprints, a critical capture format for high-scale civil and government identity programs, proves that American technology can now lead at the highest levels of global biometric performance.”

It’s hard to predict whether U.S. government agencies will become “more patriotic,” since there are so many good foreign algorithms out there. But don’t count on DHS implementing a system with a Chinese algorithm.

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.

The Big 3: Only the Names Change

In October 2023, on the occasion of the launch of the Prism Project, Bredemarket published a blog post entitled “The Big 3, or 4, or 5? Through the Years.”

Through many years.

The post discussed the evolution of the large Automated Fingerprint Identification System vendors, now large Automated Biometric System vendors that support face and other biometric modalities.

And the evolution will continue.

From 1986 to March 2009

Although I could have gone back to Autonetics in the 1960s, I didn’t. I started my version of the story in the 1980s, when the “big 3” were:

  • De La Rue Printrak.
  • Morpho Systems.
  • NEC.

The 2023 post detailed a number of changes over the next two decades, including the emergence of new companies, the results of a particular NIST test (FpVTE 2003) that put a temporary damper on my professional life, and some acquisitions.

A lot of acquisitions.

For our purposes I will fast forward to March 2009, when I argue there were a “Big 5”:

  • Cogent Systems.
  • L-1 Identity Solutions.
  • Motorola (my employer).
  • NEC.
  • Safran.

Sounds nice and neat, but I said to “hang on to your seats.”

From April 2009 to 2011

Because everything changed in the next two years. Here’s how I described it in the 2023 post:

From 2011 to 2023

So now there were just three again: 3M, NEC, and Safran. And that’s where we remain today, with some name changes: part of 3M was carved off to become part of Gemalto, part of Safran was carved off to become part of IDEMIA, and all of Gemalto was absorbed by Thales.

So by the time C. Maxine Most identified her “Big 3 ID,” they were:

  • IDEMIA.
  • NEC.
  • Thales.

Looking forward to 2027 or 2028

Why am I returning to my 2023 post? Because if all the required investment, regulatory, and government approvals move forward, and assuming no corporate changes that haven’t yet been announced, the 2027 or 2028 version of the “Big 3” will be:

  • Amadeus.
  • NEC.
  • Thales.

Today’s Acronyms Are NIST, FRIF, TE, E1N, and ROC

ROC (previously known as Rank One Computing) posted this about its latest resukts in the NIST Friction Ridge Image and Features Technology Evaluation Exemplar One-to-Many (FRIF TE E1N) evaluation.

“ROC’s performance in the NIST FRIF TE E1N evaluation, including #1 global ranking in Class B slap fingerprints, a critical capture format for high-scale civil and government identity programs, proves that American technology can now lead at the highest levels of global biometric performance….

“The NIST Friction Ridge Image and Features Technology Evaluation Exemplar One-to-Many evaluation, known as NIST FRIF TE E1N, evaluates one-to-many fingerprint identification at massive scale, testing how accurately algorithms can identify a subject from large enrollment repositories. Across the evaluation, ROC delivered top-tier performance in every category tested, including Class A, Class B, and Class C. “

As with every NIST biometric test, FRIF yields a massive amount of data. Just looking at the Class B slap data alone, here is what you can find, showing the top 7 entries out of 12 for the Class B Left Slap FNIR (another acronym: false negativce identification rate) at rank less than or equal to 10. Even this view excludes all other slap data and all other ranking data (1, 2, and 5).

(Data captured Friday, May 29, 2026 and may become outdated when new algorithms are tested.)

National Institute of Standards and Technology.

With this massive wealth of data, just about every vendor probably performed well in something, which is why ROC took the time to point out why Class B slap results are important.

“ROC’s most significant milestone came in Class B slap fingerprints. This performance is especially important for high-scale ABIS environments, including national ID programs, border management, civil enrollment, and high-stakes criminal justice workflows, where handling immense scale without sacrificing accuracy is mandatory.”

Although ROC may be the only entity trumpeting May results, other vendors have promotede earlier NIST FRIF TE E1N achievements, including IDEMIA, Identy.IO, Innovatrics, and Neurotechnology.

But they’re foreign. (As is Thales Group, for those keeping score.)

My Favorite Line I Wrote Today

From my post this morning on Advent International, Amadeus, and IDEMIA Public Security.

“Plan C became to split IDEMIA into three chunks—biometric product marketing experts call this a “trifurcation”—and sell the three chunks individually.”

Now I have never officially written about trifurcations, but if you saw my post on bifurcations you can probably figure out trifurcations also.

From NIST.

Advent International Plans to Sell IDEMIA Public Security

Amadeus’ planned acquisition of IDEMIA Public Security has been years in the making.

Many years ago, Advent International acquired Oberthur with the intent to sell it at a profit.

But Advent wanted to beef it up.

Meanwhile, Safran wanted to sell a chunk of itself to concentrate on its…(long pause)…transportation business.

The resulting combination was initially named OT MORPHO. It was subsequently renamed IDEMIA.

Wow.

Fast forward to 2022, when Reuters speculated that Advent was about to sell IDEMIA. I wrote about this twice at the time (one, two)…but in the end nothing happened.

Then Advent went to plan C.

  • Plan A was to buy Oberthur and sell it.
  • Plan B was to combine Oberthur with Morpho and sell it.
  • Plan C became to split IDEMIA into three chunks—biometric product marketing experts call this a “trifurcation”—and sell the three chunks individually.

The first chunk moved forward in 2024, when IDEMIA entered negotiations to sell IDEMIA Smart Identity to IN Groupe. These negotiations were successful.

This did not include my former part of IDEMIA, IDEMIA Public Security.

Fast forward two years, when a Spanish company made its intentions known.

“29 April 2026, 8am CEST: Following a competitive bid process, Amadeus today announces its intention to acquire IDEMIA Public Security (IPS), a leading biometrics and identity services provider headquartered in France….It will follow Amadeus’ 2024 acquisition of Vision-Box.”

Now nothing is signed yet, and government approvals will take some time. (I know.) Amadeus’ current estimate is mid 2027, but this could slip.

So I will spend the time watching music videos.

Ooh!

ACE-V and the Innovatrics ABIS (and other ABIS)

Let’s revisit analysis, comparison, evaluation, and verification.

You may recall my post about a collection of judicial decisions, one of which included the following:

“The term “scientific” to describe his opinion “arguably verged on suggesting that the ACE-V process is more scientific than warranted,” and there was one instance in which Dolan testified without using the term “opinion.” The court concludes that there was no error because, “viewed as a whole,” his testimony was largely expressed in terms of an “opinion” and his testimony did not claim that the ACE-V process was infallible or absolutely certain.”

For those who aren’t familiar with the acronym ACE-V, here is how the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology defines it:

“The friction ridge examination process is commonly referred to as ACE‐V: Analysis, Comparison, Evaluation, and Verification.

“Analysis: An initial information‐gathering phase in which the examiner studies the unknown print to assess the quality and quantity of discriminating detail present. The examiner considers information such as substrate, development method, various levels of ridge detail, and pressure distortions. A separate analysis then occurs with the exemplar.

“Comparison: The side‐by‐side observation of the friction ridge detail in the two impressions to determine the agreement or disagreement in the details

“Evaluation: The examiner assesses the agreement or disagreement of the information observed during Analysis and Comparison and forms a conclusion.

“Verification: In some agencies is a review of an examiner’s conclusions with knowledge of those conclusions; in other agencies, it is an independent re‐examination by a second examiner who does not know the outcome of the first examination.”

To make things easier for latent examiners, some automated biometric identification system (ABIS) software packages incorporate ACE-V either as a separate module or as an integrated part of their workflow. I know that IDEMIA and Thales include it, and it appears that CSIpix, Eviscan, Noblis, and ROC also include it.

But I’m going to talk about Innovatrics in this post.

“Innovatrics is expanding ACE-V capabilities in ABIS for Criminal Investigation with new features that help forensic teams manage examinations more clearly, support different review models, and keep unresolved latent evidence active as investigations move forward….

“ACE-V is widely used in forensic work, but the way it is applied can vary across agencies, regions, and countries, often shaped by local legislative requirements. Some agencies require clear separation between roles, while others rely on smaller teams with a more flexible way of dividing work. Innovatrics is shaping the workflow to support different use cases and agency ACE-V policies, from small teams to large departments, without forcing agencies to change the established workflows they already rely on.”

More here.

Federal Trade Commission Age Verification (and estimation?) Workshop January 28

A dizzying array of federal government agencies is interested in biometric verification and biometric classification, for example by age (either age verification or age estimation). As Biometric Update announced, we can add the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to the list with an upcoming age verification workshop.

Rejecting age estimation in 2024

The FTC has a history with this, having rejected a proposed age estimation scheme in 2024.

“Re: Request from Entertainment Software Rating Board, Yoti Ltd., Yoti (USA) Inc., and Kids Web Services Ltd. for Commission Approval of Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule Parental Consent Method (FTC Matter No. P235402)

“This letter is to inform you that the Federal Trade Commission has reviewed your group’s (“the ESRB group”) application for approval of a proposed verifiable parental consent (“VPC”) method under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (“COPPA” or “the Rule”). At this time, the Commission declines to approve the method, without prejudice to your refiling the application in the future….

“The ESRB group submitted a proposed VPC method for approval on June 2, 2023. The method involves the use of “Privacy-Protective Facial Age Estimation” technology, which analyzes the geometry of a user’s face to confirm that the user is an adult….The Commission received 354 comments regarding the application. Commenters opposed to the application raised concerns about privacy protections, accuracy, and deepfakes. Those in support of the application wrote that the VPC method is similar to those approved previously and that it had sufficient privacy guardrails….

“The Commission is aware that Yoti submitted a facial age estimation model to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) in September 2023, and Yoti has stated that it anticipates that a report reflecting NIST’s evaluation of the model is forthcoming. The Commission expects that this report will materially assist the Commission, and the public, in better understanding age verification technologies and the ESRB group’s application.”

You can see the current NIST age estimation results on NIST’s “Face Analysis Technology Evaluation (FATE) Age Estimation & Verification” page, not only for Yoti, but for many other vendors including my former employers IDEMIA and Incode.

But the FTC rejection was in 2024. Things may be different now.

Grok.

Revisiting age verification and age estimation in 2026?

The FTC has scheduled an in-person and online age verification workshop on January 28.

  • The in-person event will be at the Constitution Center at 400 7th St SW in Washington DC.
  • Details regarding online attendance will be published on this page in the coming weeks.

“The Age Verification Workshop will bring together a diverse group of stakeholders, including researchers, academics, industry representatives, consumer advocates, and government regulators, to discuss topics including:  why age verification matters, age verification and estimation tools, navigating the regulatory contours of age verification, how to deploy age verification more widely, and interplay between age verification technologies and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA Rule).”

Will the participants reconsider age estimation in light of recent test results?

Remember Hygiene?

When I first worked with (then) MorphoTrak’s MorphoWave in the mid-2010s, speed and convenience were the selling points.

A few years later, hygiene was all the rage for (now) IDEMIA and other companies.

As COVID recedes (for now), speed and convenience take center stage again.

Grok.

Reminder to marketing leaders: if you need Bredemarket’s content-proposal-analysis help, book a meeting at https://bredemarket.com/mark/