May 1, 2024
New survey shows Americans need data privacy and user convenience to fully embrace digital transformation.
Four out of five (79%) Americans believe there must be a more secure solution than passwords to access important sites like banking and government services. Facial biometrics has emerged as the front-runner to replace passwords, with seven in ten Americans stating that they are likely to use it to verify their identity at financial institutions and for government websites provided clear assurances can be given on how their data is used and stored. That’s according to a new independent survey of 2,000 US consumers published today by iProov, a leading provider of science-based biometric identity solutions.
As more high-value consumer services are delivered online, evidence of Americans’ concerns over the security of how they access these services has grown. Seven in ten (70%) Americans no longer trust passwords to verify their identity online and believe a more reliable solution is needed. These fears are well-founded and have costly implications: according to FBI data, their Internet Crime Complaint Center logged a record number of consumer complaints in 2023, with potential losses exceeding $12.5 billion. The iProov Biometric Pulse Survey sought to better understand Americans’ changing perceptions toward how to securely verify a person’s identity online and their comfort level with passwordless authentication methods like biometric facial verification.
While Americans are eager to embrace the conveniences of digital transformation in their daily lives, current security practices are falling short and leading to massive levels of fraud, which creates distrust among consumers and large financial losses for banks, retailers, and government agencies. If organizations can’t provide secure online services, financial and reputational losses will reduce the competitiveness of commercial enterprises and limit the equal accessibility of government services.
“Facial biometrics are unique in their ability to provide equal levels of security and user convenience, frustrating would-be fraudsters while delighting authorized users. Unlike many security technologies, facial biometrics can be used throughout the user lifecycle, including initial remote onboarding to authentication at appropriate intervals,” said Ajay Amlani, SVP, Head of Americas, iProov. “It is time for government and commercial enterprises to give their users a modern, passwordless solution that conveniently delivers high levels of security combined with the assurance of personal privacy.”
Americans Receptive to Facial Biometric Technology in Daily Life
Americans recognize the practicality and security of employing facial biometric technology in daily tasks. Two-thirds (67%) of respondents said they would use facial biometrics at transportation hubs like airports and train stations while three in five (61%) would be likely to use facial biometrics at stores and e-commerce websites. Over two-thirds (70%) of Americans said using a digital government identity card such as a mobile driver’s license (mDL) for identity verification would be highly convenient.
The Dangers of Generative AI and Deepfakes
Generative AI looms large as a significant threat to remote identity verification systems and opens the door to a new breed of sophisticated attacks. It can be used to create highly realistic deepfakes (synthetic images, videos, or audio recordings) to impersonate legitimate individuals, bypass remote identity verification systems, or trick employees into divulging sensitive information.
Worryingly, half of Americans (47%) say they would have no problem spotting a deepfake image over a real user image, while over half (53%) acknowledge difficulty in doing so. The stark reality is the quality of today’s deepfakes makes it virtually impossible to distinguish between genuine and fabricated content without sophisticated tools and monitoring systems. This leaves individuals and organizations vulnerable to identity theft, fraud, and targeted social engineering schemes.
Keeping it Personal
As privacy concerns escalate in the digital age, Americans have become increasingly vigilant about safeguarding their personal information when engaging online. An overwhelming majority (78%) are reluctant to share personal information online due to privacy issues. However, they would reconsider if reassurances were given on how their data was being used and stored.
A Hard Pass on Passwords
Password fatigue is also taking its toll, with seven in ten (70%) Americans having had to reset a password to access an online service at least once in the past six months, often encountering a difficult and time-consuming process.
Methodology
iProov worked with a third-party market research firm to survey 2,000 American adults, aged 18 and older to understand their impressions of and comfort level with biometric facial verification. This survey was conducted online between February 28 and March 3, 2024.
