Single Image Passive Facial Liveness Delivers Security Without Friction

Passive is the new liveness.

Facial liveness detection ensures that fraudsters cannot use high resolution print outs, masks or video playbacks to spoof face recognition systems used for authentication and identity verification. Active liveness detection relies on the user performing actions such as blinking, smiling or moving their heads back and forth to detect liveness, assuming that a photo cannot mimic the actions of a live person. Passive liveness does not. And when implementing a single frame passive facial liveness solution like ID R&D’s, the same selfie that is used for face recognition is used to determine liveness.

Biometrics provide an easy way to strengthen security during Identity verification and authentication — but it is increasingly clear that liveness detection is a critical piece of the solution. Users today have little tolerance for processes that require unnecessary time and effort. This is a real problem with active liveness detection.

All things being equal, humans will choose the easiest option. As such, active liveness vendors try hard to have you believe that all things are not equal. Let’s set the record straight.

Passive Liveness Detection Accuracy

Achieving the same level of accuracy based on a passive, single image approach is harder to achieve. But at ID R&D we don’t believe that strong security is an excuse for a poor user experience. We have and continue to work tirelessly to deliver accurate liveness without compromising UX. ID R&D passive liveness is the choice of leading identity and access management vendors, onboarding and KYC providers, and enterprise customers worldwide. Our solution is deployed in financial institutions, governments, healthcare organizations, standalone access systems, and more.

iBeta ISO 30107-3 Compliance vs Certification

You may see vendors make a big deal about being the only “certified” provider. According to iBeta, “When iBeta was initially accredited, the term certification was used but was corrected during the NIST/NVLAP audit in March 2019. There is no difference in our test methods, procedures, or processes between the earlier testing and the testing after that date with the exception that the allowed limit for genuine or Bona Fide presentations is now stricter.” ID R&D passive facial liveness is iBeta ISO 30107-3 Compliant, achieving Level 1 in December 2019 and Level 2 in September 2020. The product had a perfect score with an attack success rate of 0%.

All Passive Approaches Are Not the Same

There are a variety of approaches to passive liveness. First beware of vendors who offer passive liveness solutions that are targeted at “low-risk” scenarios. Second, insist on an enterprise-grade, ISO 30107-3 compliant solution. Third, if you are deploying in a mobile app, ensure that testing has been done with both iOS and Android devices.

ID R&D uses patent-pending methodologies and a unique single frame approach that enables liveness to be detected from the same selfie image that is used for facial recognition. This is vastly different from other passive solutions that rely on multiple images and video to distinguish between a live user and a spoof.

Our simplified single frame approach offers significant advantages:

Ensures a frictionless user experience.
Requires no additional software on the capture side.
Determines liveness in under a second.
Generates no incremental traffic to the server, making it ideal for customers operating in countries where bandwidth is scarce or expensive.
Closes security gaps presented when using separate images for matching and liveness.
Eases integration because the product is deployed as a separate independent function, requiring no changes to the user interface or communication interfaces.

Watch a demo of IDLive™ Face.

Learn more about ID R&D's unique approach.

Read our Tech Brief, Understanding Single Frame Passive Liveness.

Partner with ID R&D

At ID R&D we put our energy and resources into research and development, real-world tests and real-word customer deployments. As a core technology provider to the leading identity verification and authentication providers globally, our technology is subjected to in-depth testing against large, diverse data sets and production traffic at scale.

The team at ID R&D has worked relentlessly to ensure that providers and enterprises don’t have to sacrifice usability for security. Customers and partners who have made the switch from active to passive, report significant reduction in abandonment, lower false rejections of real users, and highly accurate presentation attack detection. Our single frame approach can further differentiate your offering by enabling greater flexibility, improved performance, and easier integration.