News in Brief
IATA Welcomes ICAO Health Master List
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says it welcomes the creation by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) of a global directory of public keys required for authentication of health credentials.
The world body said the directory – called the Health Master List (HML) – would make a significant contribution to the global recognition and verification (interoperability) of government issued health credentials.
It noted that a public key enables third parties to verify that a QR code displayed on a health credential is authentic and valid. The HML is a compilation of public key certificates signed by ICAO and regularly updated as more health proofs are issued, and new public keys are required. Its implementation will ease the global recognition of health credentials outside of the jurisdiction in which they were issued.
‘For international travel today, it is critical that COVID-19 health passes can be efficiently verified outside of their country of issuance. While the keys for verification are available individually, the creation of a directory will significantly cut complexity, simplify operations and improve trust in the verification process. We encourage all states to submit their public health keys to the HML,’ said IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh.
It should be noted that the sharing of public keys used to perform this verification does not involve any exchange of or access to personal information.
Anonybit Claims to Break Biometric Data into Anonymised Bits
In an interview with The Paypers 1, Frances Zelazny, the founder of Anonybit, claims that the company has developed the first fully decentralised biometrics infrastructure that ensures strong authentication without maintaining central honeypots of personal data.
In the interview, Ms Zelazny explains that the biometrics industry and major stakeholders have, for years, looked for ways to decentralise sensitive data and avoid honeypots of information that can be stolen. Solutions such as blockchain are being suggested to address specific use cases. However, when it comes to biometrics, the most critical and sensitive of all PII (personally identifiable information), all attempts at true decentralisation have failed.
Ms Zelazny goes on to say that Anonybit’s breakthrough is to do both the storage and the processing in a distributed manner – leveraging multiparty computing and zero- knowledge proofs in a proprietary manner.
The way it works is to break up biometric data into anonymised bits (hence the name Anonybit) and distribute these bits into a peer-to-peer network of nodes where they reside and are never retrieved, even for matching. This approach can also be used to store other digital assets like private keys for blockchain applications and backup passphrases.
Regarding the emergence of the European digital identity wallet, she claims that Anonybit is the perfect complement as the technology stores the private key for recovery and access. It enables biometric authentication for the verifiable credentials without compromising on the main principles of decentralisation, democratisation and user control.
The backend database of the issuer can also be decentralised – minimising the opportunity for potential breaches at that level as well.
Veridos Unveils Next Generation of Verification Solutions
Veridos, a leading provider of integrated identity solutions, unveiled their next generation of security and verification solutions at the World Police Summit in Dubai 14-17 March 2022. Three innovative products were on show – VeriDNA, VergiGO Drive ID and the Veridos Inspection Kit; all will help governments to make official documents even more secure and to identify individuals faster.
The principal focus was on VeriDNA, a new solution for guaranteed identity determination, based on DNA pattern recognition and unique DNA IDs.
VeriDNA provides governments with a comprehensive technology package for the verification of individuals that simultaneously protects privacy, can be used in the field on a mobile basis and complies with all the necessary quality and security standards.
Thanks to the technology embedded within it, VeriDNA creates forgery-proof identifiers based on the biometrics of human DNA and integrates them into ID lifecycle management. Unlike irises and fingerprints, which change over the course of a person’s life, DNA remains the same. This means the corresponding data only needs to be captured once, marking a significant improvement on other forms of biometrics. The technology used ensures the protection of privacy at all times as DNA IDs only store a unique code.
VeriDNA includes the entire identification process, from the generation of an individual DNA ID, its registration and application into an appropriate ID through to operational verification at specific checkpoints of the national ID infrastructure.
Attendees at the World Police Summit were also given insights into Veridos’ tried and tested Veridos Inspection Kit and VeriGO Drive ID. While the VeriGo digital driving licence simplifies the verification of the document, as well as the identification of individuals in accordance with the latest security standards, the Inspection Kit provides a mobile inspection station that can be implemented as a perfect fit in the VeriGO Border Control Solution.
Czech Republic Urges EU to Tighten Passport Rules for Russians
In response to the conflict in Ukraine, the Interior Minister of the Czech Republic, Vita Rakusan, has called on the European Union to impose more stringent rules for Russian citizens entering the Schengen Area.
More specifically, Minister Rakusan has asked the Member States to agree on permitting entry to the zone only if the arriving Russian citizens hold biometric passports, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
‘We will call on our European colleagues… to require Russian citizens (to hold) biometric passports for entering the Schengen area so we have clear certainty that the person entering with the passport really is that person,’ Rakusan said.
He added that he is ready to work with EU member states’ foreign ministries to tighten visa issuance rules for Russian nationals while establishing special visa permits for people linked with opposition in Russia or who are being persecuted due to their beliefs.
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