One of the Problems with Mass Surveillance

There are many problematic issues with the use mass surveillance technology but the one we are talking about today is related to how they just don’t work very well.

Identity MattersAlex KilpatrickJanuary 7, 2019Biometric Identification, mass surveillance, privacy

Advances in Identity Technology and Privacy

Biometric identification technology is advancing faster than established best practices and laws that address their use. Four states have laws that cover biometric privacy - is that good enough?

Identity MattersMary HaskettNovember 5, 2018Privacy, Biometric Identification

Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Face Recognition (but were afraid to ask)

Almost every day there is an article in the news about face recognition technology. Let’s dig down and learn some of the basics about how it works.

Identity MattersMary HaskettOctober 7, 2018Biometric Identification, Face Recognition, Biometric Accuracy

ACLU Attacks Face Recognition in NY School

The ACLU has critiqued a recent project to use face recognition technology in New York schools. Is the criticism valid? Well, yes and no.

Identity MattersAlex KilpatrickSeptember 10, 2018Face Recognition

ACLU Yanks Congress' Chain About Amazon's Face Recognition

The ACLU did an experiment comparing a criminal watch list to members of Congress. The results got a lot of press but actually weren’t at all surprising.

Identity MattersAlex KilpatrickAugust 13, 2018Face Recognition, biometric accuracy

Security versus Security Theater

In general, people are terrible at assessing risk. We intuitively associate familiar with safe and unfamiliar with dangerous. When bad things happen, we want someone to do something, even if it’s not helpful. This generally isn’t a good thing.

Identity MattersMary HaskettJuly 9, 2018security

Accuracy of Police Face Recognition Systems

There have been a bunch of articles published recently about the terrible accuracy of facial recognition technology used by the police. This sounds really bad, but to understand it, you have to understand accuracy in biometrics.

Identity MattersMary HaskettJuly 2, 2018Face Recognition, biometric accuracy

Marbles and Probability

A recent blog post mentioned that the Android and Apple phone specifications call for at least a 1 in 50,000 probability of a false match. In other words, a randomly selected imposter will have a 1 in 50,000 chance of unlocking your phone with his fingerprint. Let’s visualize that.

Identity MattersAlex KilpatrickJune 8, 2018Biometric Accuracy

The Economics of Identity

When people, companies, or organizations make a choice about a particular identity mechanism, they are making an economic decision. Every mechanism has a cost - and these costs should be balanced. A perfect identity system will have so much friction that it will allow no customers and a frictionless identity system will allow plenty of customers, but unlimited fraud.

Identity MattersAlex KilpatrickJune 5, 2018Biometric Identification, Identity

The Wonders of Human Face Recognition

Humans are remarkably better at face recognition tasks than computers. We are so good at recognizing faces, that we don’t even realize it’s a difficult task.

Identity MattersAlex KilpatrickApril 2, 2018Biometric Identification, Face Recognition