Biometrics Institute progresses the work on a Biometrics Institute Trust Mark

London/ Sydney, 8 September 2015. The independent and international impartial Biometrics Institute has received funding from the Australian government to take its Trust Mark development to the next stage.

"It is a significant stamp of approval to receive funding to proceed with the Trust Mark development", says Isabelle Moeller, Chief Executive of the Biometrics Institute, "as it confirms the high level of interest and support for this proposal, which shall give consumers confidence in the responsible use of an identity product or service. We will continue to brief our members and stakeholders on the Trust Mark at our upcoming events including the Washington DC meeting next week on the 15 September, the Biometrics 2015 on the 13-15 October in London and the Showcase Australia on the 18 November in Canberra".

The Biometrics Institute conducted a feasibility report between February and June 2015 which included a landscape scan and road map for implementing the Biometrics Institute Trust Mark. The report confirmed that there is strong support for a Trust Mark from the industry.

"The challenge is now to develop the technical criteria for the Trust Mark", explains Terry Aulich, Head of the Privacy Expert Group of the Biometrics Institute, "A specially convened review panel will oversee and peer-review the criteria rigorously and independently. The review panel consists of 7 industry experts drawn from the Institute's international membership".

The Biometrics Institute continues to work with Lockstep Consulting on this second phase and will engage in close consultations with a wide range of stakeholders to shape the Trust Mark criteria.

Lockstep Consulting <http://www.lockstep.com.au> is a specialist independent advisory firm dedicated to identity security and privacy with international expertise in the field.

Lockstep Managing Director Stephen Wilson commented: "We found that the biometrics market is ready for a new trust mark to help provide confidence that given biometrics solutions are privacy protective. So Lockstep is delighted to be helping the Biometrics Institute take this initiative forward with the technical criteria.”

There is strong support amongst privacy advocates as well as biometrics vendors and implementers for a Trust Mark. Biometrics raise the sorts of concerns amongst consumers that can be addressed by a mark, to signify compliance with an independent and reputable set of privacy criteria.

Wilson adds: “However, while privacy advocates are generally supportive, privacy advocates stress that a trust mark can be counter-productive if it is too easy to obtain, biased by industry interests, and/or poorly policed. There is general agreement that a credible trust mark should be non-trivial, and consequently, that the criteria be reasonably prescriptive. The reality of a strong trust mark is that not all architectures and solution instances will be compatible".

The Biometrics Institute is holding several important events that will discuss the Trust Mark proposal including the Member Meeting Washington DC on the 15 September 2015 including a privacy panel <http://www.biometricsinstitute.org/events.php/567/member-meeting-washington-dc>, the Biometrics 2015: Secure identity solutions now!, 13-15 October 2015 <http://www.biometricsandidentity.com> in London and the Showcase Australia 18 November 2015 <http://www.biometricsinstitute.org/events.php/575/showcase-australia-2015> in Canberra. A full event listing can be found at http://www.biometricsinstitute.org/events.php.

The Biometrics Institute is the independent and impartial international forum for biometrics users and other interested parties with currently 188 member organisations including government departments, financial services institutions, aviation representatives and also vendors of biometric products and services.

It has been established to promote the responsible use of biometric technologies.

The Biometrics Institute has offices in Australia and the UK.


Web: http://www.biometricsinstitute.org