Brazil’s federal government is working on biometric identity verification infrastructure that would act as a backstop for businesses looking for a better way to reduce fraud.
Officials have picked a delicate time to push the button on this effort. The government unit involved with the contract has been targeted for privatization, raising privacy and security concerns.
State-owned Federal Data Processing Service, or Serpro, this week hired ID infrastructure vendor Persona to collaborate on the project. The goal is to create a gold-standard database of personally identifiable information, including biometric data, that businesses can use to verify customers’ identities.
Persona CEO Rick Song says that fraud is regularly perpetrated in Brazil with forged government ID documents.
Persona executives may get more than they bargained for in the contract. The federal government is selling off state-owned operations. Some Serpro staff reportedly oppose the privatization move because they say it could jeopardize citizens’ personal information held by Serpro.
Company executives have said they and Persona will use “a new verification type,” but have not elaborated. It might be biometric liveness testing, which is part of the contract.
Businesses would compare identity information against the federal government’s database, which holds citizens’ name, national ID numbers, birthdate and a photo. A selfie collected by Persona would be compared to the Serpro image.
The company says in an announcement it will reduce false rejections due to common user errors, face image quality, and bias.
The financial terms of contract were not disclosed.
Article Topics
biometric liveness detection | biometrics | Brazil | digital identity | fraud prevention | government purchasing | identity verification | Persona | selfie biometrics | Serpro
Read More:Brazil signs with Persona on biometric ID verification infrastructure
2022-09-21 18:43:50
