FIDO Alliance, the open authentication standards industry association, today announced the launch of a certification platform to test and certify the performance of remote biometric identity verification technology.

The new Face Verification Certification program does as the name suggests — it verifies faces — although simply looking at a face isn’t where the idea stops when it comes to biometric authentication. The certification program consists of 10,000 tests at a minimum to assess a biometric system’s performance across different demographics, including skin tone, age and gender.

The program has been designed to measure resistance to spoof and deepfake attacks through a measure called “Imposter Attack Presentation Accept Rate.” It also assesses the usability and security of biometric solutions by measuring False Reject and Accept Rates, along with testing “selfie match” capabilities to ensure a user’s selfie matches their government-issued ID in the initial setup process.

Biometrics is becoming an increasingly popular way to access services and is often argued to be the most secure way to do so. However, the FIDO Alliance argues that there are two urgent issues that need to be addressed with biometric authentication: bias and security threats.

Bias, in this case, relates to systems that struggle with differing users, with some systems having issues with assessing different people based on age, race and other factors. According to research from the FIDO Alliance, 50% of American and British consumers said they would lose trust in an organization if its biometric system was found to be biased, while 22% said they’d stop using a service entirely.

The security aspect relates to concerns about deepfakes in particular. FIDO Alliance research has also found that more than a third of consumers, 37%, are concerned about verifying themselves online given the rising number of deepfakes.

“Remote identity solutions unlock huge benefits for governments, organizations and consumers alike, but as appetite grows across the globe, there are understandable concerns mixed with excitement,” said Andrew Shikiar, executive director and chief executive officer of the FIDO Alliance. “Identity theft is rising, while bias in biometric systems has caused organizations to delay or reconsider implementations at a time when inclusivity and accessibility have never been more important.”

The new certification platform expands upon the alliance’s existing Biometric Component Certification and Document Authenticity Certification programs and is said by FIDO to demonstrate its ongoing commitment to meet marketplace demand and address evolving threats with third-party certifications.

Founded in 2013, the FIDO Alliance is an industry consortium backed by leading companies, including Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc., Amazon.com. Inc., PayPal Holdings Inc., Intel Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. It’s dedicated to creating standards for secure and interoperable authentication. The alliance aims to reduce the world’s reliance on passwords by promoting the adoption of stronger, simpler authentication methods.

Image: FIDO Alliance