Security and Identity
While serving as the Deputy Commercial Officer in the U.S. Embassy Kabul, I saw that local Afghans employed by the embassy frequently managed to evade biometric screening and other security systems. At one point, I discovered that an Afghan employee whom I had highly trusted was selling fake credentials. He had been putting U.S. personnel at greater risk to serve his own greed.
It became obvious to me that positive identification of an individual — before providing them entry to a secure facility, or access to protected information such as a bank account — was a universal challenge.
Fingerprints and facial recognition only offer a small degree of security, and have been widely shown to be insufficient as a single verification marker. People unconsciously leave fingerprints on doorknobs, windows and countless other surfaces, or post photos on social media for anyone to use. A friend who holds a senior position at a major smartphone manufacturer in Cupertino was astounded when we used a copy of their fingerprint left on a cup, and a 3D facial copy, to unlock their latest phone in seconds.
