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Android accredits Idiap’s biometrics center

Tech

28 October 2020

Idiap’s biometrics center is now one of the few laboratories to be accredited by Android to deliver certificates that meet Google’s operating system standards. With the increasing use of biometric systems, Android has introduced its own biometric certification standards. Idiap‘s Swiss Center for Biometrics Research and Testing has just received its accreditation from Google, enabling […]

Idiap’s biometrics center is now one of the few laboratories to be accredited by Android to deliver certificates that meet Google’s operating system standards.

With the increasing use of biometric systems, Android has introduced its own biometric certification standards. Idiap‘s Swiss Center for Biometrics Research and Testing has just received its accreditation from Google, enabling it to carry out the assessments requested by Android, a credential that comes on top of the FIDO accreditation obtained in 2019.

The number of applications using biometrics is increasing. Whether to verify the user’s identity or to validate a payment, smartphone applications often rely on their users’ biometric data to run.

The robustness and reliability of these applications depends on how they have been developed. To ensure their security, their biometric functions must be controlled according to a common standard. As with any certification, the value of the certification offered by Android is based on an assessment conducted by external organizations, of which Idiap is now one.

A continuously evolving field

With the constant evolution of technologies, the resilience of biometric-based security systems must continuously be updated. A photo, video or mask must not be able to be used to impersonate another person. The biometric validation of applications is thus becoming a major challenge in establishing security standards.

Active since 2014 thanks to the support of the canton of Valais and the city of Martigny, the biometrics center is one of the few laboratories to be accredited by Android. Idiap’s biometric testing laboratory features a dedicated room that houses data acquisition equipment, a test bench, and masks to test attacks aimed at fooling facial recognition systems.