---

Feature Article: Identity Verification During the Age of COVID-19

Face masks have become a way of life due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We now wear them nearly everywhere we go—at grocery stores, on public transportation, in schools, at work—any situation that requires us to be around others. But what about at places that require a higher level of security, like airports? One of the challenges the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is now working to address is how to verify someone's identity while maintaining overall safety.   Earlier this year, S&T collaborated with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on a report that showed that digital masking of face images can compromise the performance of facial recognition algorithms. However, it's not as bad as one would think. NIST found that the most accurate algorithms recognize people with digitally-applied face masks with accuracy around where it was 2-3 years ago with non-masked photos. This showed that we could potentially get many travelers through the process without compromising security as well as help keep people safe from infectious diseases like COVID-19. NIST researchers are continuing to collaborate with DHS and are interested in cross-checking previous results with S&T's work on images collected from volunteers wearing real masks. During its third annual Biometric Technology Rally, held over three weeks in late September and early October, S&T evaluated the ability of acquisition systems and matching algorithms to reliably collect and/or match images of individuals wearing a diverse array of face masks. Previous Biometric Rallies showed that biometric systems can excel at rapidly processing high volumes of travelers using face recognition. This year's rally focused on the ability of such systems to detect and recognize travelers without asking them to remove their masks, thereby reducing the risk for both the public and DHS frontline workers. READ THE FULL STORY →

 

Having trouble viewing this message? *View it as a webpage.

You are subscribed to updates from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
*Manage Subscriptions  |  Privacy Policy  |  Help

Connect with DHS:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  LinkedIn  |  Flickr  |  YouTube

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
www.dhs.gov

---

U.S. Department of Homeland Security · www.dhs.gov · 202-282-8000

This email was sent to Webmaster220 Bible Study Blog

*the blog owner has deleted the hyperlink intentionally