Clearview AI is pivoting away from Co-founder and CEO Hoan Ton-That and towards U.S. federal government contracts, expecting a more sympathetic reception to its facial recognition searches of images scraped from social media and other internet sites from an administration rapidly dismantling American’s privacy protections. Ton-That has resigned from the company, Forbes reports. Hal Lambert, a board member and early investor, and Co-founder Richard Schwartz became co-CEOs in December, with Ton-That taking the role of Clearview president. While he is leaving that role, Ton-That remains on Clearview’s board. https://www.biometricupdate.com/202502/clearview-ai-targets-us-federal-govt-facial-recognition-contracts-with-new-co-ceos

Among those “progressive” solutions, CUPE wants the government to seize control of any Canadian business owner who wants to leave Canada for lower taxes and less regulatory burden that the new U.S. administration promises. https://tnc.news/2025/02/07/cupe-feds-nationalize-companies-leave-for-us/

Mastercard intends to do away with the 16-digit number on their credit and debit cards and replace them with on-device biometrics and tokenization as part of a plan to quash identity theft and fraud. In Australia the initial rollout of these new numberless cards will be via a partnership with AMP Bank, but other banks are expected to follow over the next 12 months. Mastercard recently committed to phasing out manual card entry and static passwords by 2030 in favor of tokenization and biometrics, and to replace traditional authentication methods with on-device biometrics for users to authenticate purchases without exposing personal data online. https://www.biometricupdate.com/202502/biometrics-tokenization-to-replace-credit-card-numbers-by-2030

Myself posted this before: CBSA’s ReportIn app is similar to U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) also relatively new CBP One app, in that both apps aim to enhance efficiency in immigration processes and overall border security. However, both apps also present strikingly similar privacy and civil rights concerns. Despite the differences in the two apps’ specific functionalities, the core concerns about the apps revolve around biometric, biographic and location data collection, storage, security, and their broader implications for individual freedoms and equity. https://www.biometricupdate.com/202412/reportin-and-cbp-one-a-tale-of-two-biometric-border-apps

In the U.S. and Canada, the drive to expand data collection on border checks is being driven by an increasingly rocky relationship between the two neighbors. Legal experts are criticizing a new agreement that expands the collection of travelers’ biographical and biometric data. The agreement is an update to the 2012 Beyond the Border Action Plan, which enabled automatic sharing of non-residents’ data during visa applications. In October, the Canadian government also added permanent residents to the list, allowing the sharing of information such as date of birth, immigration status and facial images. The new rule came into effect this month and https://www.biometricupdate.com/202501/border-projects-see-criticism-on-data-sharing-transparency

Recently, Mexico introduced its AI Bill marking another significant step in global regulatory efforts. This legislation closely mirrors the EU AI Act with requirements for risk management, impact assessments, consumer notifications, and protections against algorithmic discrimination. It highlights the urgent need for organizations to adapt and align with these emerging standards. https://www.biometricupdate.com/202501/opinion-mexicos-ai-bill-highlights-global-trends-in-compliance-and-fair-use

Whether it’s a fake credit history, a phony license or a test driver with a stolen identity who makes tracks with a vehicle, auto dealerships deal with a host of new fraud threats that can lead to heavy losses. Digital identity verification presents itself as a solution across the dashboard, as providers expand their IDV product lines to meet new verification and authentication needs in the automotive industry. https://www.biometricupdate.com/202501/car-dealerships-rev-up-digital-id-verification-to-counter-rise-in-identity-fraud

With everybody looking at Trump at the WEF what else did you miss, This year’s Davos World Economic Forum (WEF) is bringing not only tense trade talks between the U.S. and Europe but also discussions on digital identity operability and balancing AI regulation and competitiveness in Europe. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and other organizations called for boosting standardization efforts for digital public infrastructure (DPI), including globally interoperable digital wallets. The call came on Tuesday during the OpenWallet Forum High-Level Panel, hosted by the ITU, the OpenWallet Foundation and the Swiss Confederation in Davos, Switzerland. https://www.biometricupdate.com/202501/davos-discusses-digital-wallets-ai-economy

The deadline for U.S. federal agencies to enforce REAL ID specifications for identity credentials has been pushed back by two more years to May 5, 2027 by the TSA. The previous deadline to meet the security standard for ID documents did not give states sufficient time to implement the changes, coming a mere 20 years after the passage of the legislation mandating the change. An eleventh-hour executive order by U.S. President Biden presents the adoption of digital ID, in the form of mobile driver’s licenses, as a national cybersecurity imperative. The EO stipulates security requirements for software supply chains and policy changes to enable better threat detection and more stringent access control measures. Federal agencies are instructed to consider grants to support mDL rollouts by states. https://www.biometricupdate.com/202501/emerging-biometrics-markets-draw-a-crowd

Fans attending this year’ Australian Open (AO) tennis tournament must agree to be monitored by facial recognition cameras, under a new clause added to the Grand Slam’s terms and conditions. “By entering the tournament site,” says a report in The Age, “patrons acknowledge that security cameras which ‘may incorporate facial recognition technology’ will be used in order to ‘enhance security and patron safety’.” The terms and conditions specify that the latter includes, “without limitation, to assist in identifying and denying entry to, or ejecting, persons who have been removed or denied entry to the AO under these conditions (including persons who M&OP and TA reasonably believe it is in the best interests of the safety, security or integrity of the AO to do so), for other law enforcement purposes and contact tracing.” https://www.biometricupdate.com/202501/australian-open-gets-wicket-face-biometrics-for-express-entry