ID Tech

Facial Recognition

Facial recognition matches a photo of a face to an identity.

Facial recognition is a biometric modality that analyses the geometry and texture of a person’s face to establish identity. Modern systems rely on CNN embeddings and achieve <0.1% FNMR on NIST FRVT benchmarks.

Latest Updates

  • 2025-07-01: Tinder, Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat expanded selfie or facial-verification checks to fight bots, deepfakes and illegal-account rentals in CA and UK gig-economy platforms.

References

Vendors using Facial Recognition

Aware, Inc.Cognitec Systems GmbHCLEAR Secure, Inc.Daon, Inc.FaceTecHID GlobalIDEMIAJumioNEC CorporationNeurotechnologyOnfidoShufti ProThales GroupLakota Software SolutionsAuthenticIDKeyless

Latest Data Cards

  • Data Card

    Spanish Airport Operator Aena Fined €10M Over Biometric Boarding

    2025-11-28CC-BY-4.0biometric-border-controlfacial-recognition

    Spain’s data protection authority has fined airport operator Aena €10 million over its biometric boarding program, citing GDPR violations in how passengers’ facial images were collected and processed.

    • The sanction relates to Aena’s use of facial recognition for automated boarding at Spanish airports.
    • Regulators found shortcomings in informed consent, transparency, and the legal basis for processing biometric data.
    • The case highlights regulatory scrutiny of airport facial recognition schemes across Europe.
  • Data Card

    CLEAR Becomes TSA PreCheck Enrollment Provider, Expands Biometric Pods

    2025-11-24CC-BY-4.0facial-recognition

    CLEAR is now an authorized TSA PreCheck enrollment provider, rolling out biometric enrolment pods and deeper integration with TSA’s facial-ID checkpoints at U.S. airports.

    • CLEAR gained TSA approval to enroll travelers into PreCheck using its airport pods.
    • Biometric Credential Authentication Technology units with facial matching continue expanding at TSA checkpoints.
    • Move tightens the link between commercial identity services and federal aviation security flows.
  • Data Card

    FBI Seeks Next-Gen Biometric Algorithms for NGI Upgrade

    2025-11-24CC-BY-4.0fingerprint-recognitionfacial-recognitioniris-recognitionmultimodal-biometrics

    An FBI RFI calls for vendors to provide next-generation fingerprint, face, iris, and tattoo algorithms to modernize the Next Generation Identification (NGI) system.

    • Request spans tenprint, latent, face, iris, and tattoo matching for large-scale identification workloads.
    • Vendors are expected to participate in NIST testing and supply performance data.
    • Signals continued NGI modernization and potential procurement roadmap.
See more data cards

Frequently Asked Questions

How does facial recognition work?
Facial recognition uses algorithms to analyze facial features—such as the distance between eyes or the shape of cheekbones—to create a unique digital signature for identification.
How accurate is facial recognition technology?
Modern facial recognition systems can achieve very low false match rates (below 0.1%) under controlled conditions, but accuracy may vary with lighting, pose, and image quality.
What are common concerns around facial recognition?
Concerns include privacy violations, potential bias against certain demographic groups, and misuse by surveillance systems without consent.
What is Presentation Attack Detection (PAD)?
PAD aims to detect spoofing attempts (e.g., photos, masks, deepfakes) and is evaluated separately from matching accuracy using standards-driven tests.
What are 1:1 vs 1:N operations?
1:1 verifies a claimed identity (authentication), while 1:N searches across a gallery (identification). They have different accuracy and scalability considerations.