This year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona was made up of four packed days of interacting with new technology, meeting people from all over the world, exciting show awards and most importantly, lively discussion of industry hot topics. Identity and connectivity were two of the major topics, and with lots of innovative solutions for identity authentication being presented on the floor, it was clear that there is a strong need for protecting the user from identity theft and fraud in a connected, mobile world.
Already today, everything from wearables, cameras, home electronics and doors right through to cars and medical devices are connected. This is just set to increase, particularly with the introduction of 5G when we’ll see even more smart connected devices – all with the ability to communicate and exchange data with each other. And with this, the convenience that technology delivers will also grow exponentially as we embrace all the connected devices that surround us to assist with our daily lives. But, as always when new technology achieves wide scale adoption, the opportunities for malicious attacks inevitably increase and so our need for improved cyber security.
Operating in an ever-increasing digital world, where user convenience is something that’s just expected and not a ‘nice-to-have’, means that managing identity securely becomes not just one of our biggest concerns but also a key challenge.
The rise of multiple secure identity solutions
Several companies showcased innovative identity solutions, with the goal of making sure that digital transformation is as seamless and secure as possible. As digital identity becomes a reality throughout the world, we believe that biometric technology holds the key to providing great consumer experience without compromising security.
Using multiple biometrics such as face, fingerprint and voice can undoubtedly enhance security without affecting convenience. As more devices are equipped with sensors and smart technology, we have an opportunity to create very strong digital identities. By gathering your unique biometric data together with how you behave and where you are, it becomes possible to create an identity profile that is extremely hard to replicate and spoof. With a secured identity profile various services can be used not only for accessing systems, but also to tailor-made and configure services offered by an increasingly connected world.
At Precise, we have used our extensive experience in biometrics to develop a new platform for the verification of digital identity. This new platform – YOUNiQ – combines multiple biometric technologies with other types of smart technology to provide convenient and secure verification of digital identity which in turn, enables modern, everyday life to be easier and more secure. We believe that this platform can replace current verification systems which require entering a pin-code and have lower safety.
New generation of under-display fingerprint sensing
Continuing with the theme of customer convenience, one of the hottest trends for mobile devices at the show was smartphones with large under-display fingerprint sensors – enabling next generation of fingerprint sensing. Several concept phones were showcased with this new cutting-edge fingerprint technology.
The demand for user-friendly smartphone designs and full-screen displays are driving the trend of under-display fingerprint sensors, which has resulted in several sensor manufacturers expanding their offering with optical and ultrasonic sensors. Over the past year we have seen multiple integrations of this technology in phones from leading vendors such as Huawei, Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi and Samsung.
While this development is gaining momentum, the next-generation of under-display fingerprint sensors are being tested. These sensors make it possible to read fingerprints on a larger part of the screen or the whole screen, a significant evolution of current technology which requires the finger to be placed in a specific location. This development is a natural step in order to develop displays with built-in sensors that can read fingerprints across the entire screen and enable continuous authentication to increase user convenience and security.
According to analysis from IHS Markit, the use of optical and ultrasonic sensors is expected to increase and will account for over 100 million sensors in 2019. Due to the average price of these sensors being significantly higher than capacitive sensors they will also account for a significant part of the value in the market for fingerprint sensors, so this will be an interesting trend to watch over the coming months.
At Precise we are working closely with our sensor partners to optimize our fingerprint software for mobile devices, Precise BioMatch Mobile for these new large under-display fingerprint sensors, bringing the next level of convenience directly to your fingertips.