Can facial recognition technology replace physical ID cards with one Digital ID card for life?

Let me start with a bit of history. I still remember the days when I got my driving license on piece of paper with my photo clipped to the corner. Most of my ID documents were very similar. In fact almost all of them. Some scrupulous elements started creating forged documents and misused them for personal gain. The government agencies woke up to create a little more sophisticated documents. They introduced watermarks and holographic images on those documents to beat the counterfeiters. These paper ID documents were subject to the wear and tear of the times and became unusable. They had to be replaced by the users frequently. The currency notes in various countries are big example today. They are made out paper, polymer with so many security features thrown to put off the forgers. Yet, there is the possibility of a circulation of counterfeit notes.

Then came the infamous plastic ID card with your photo and contact details. They were small and could be carried in your pocket. Counterfeiters were quick to copy them.They introduced watermarks and holographic images on cards. Even those were not immune to the possibilities of crime. In today's society, we use our ID card almost everyday. In fact, nowadays for most secondary school students, it (ID cards) becomes a small, yet significant part of your everyday life, though you may not realise it. How will you buy your food from the canteen? How will you borrow that book from the library. Some schools have moved on from the physical ID card, to finger print scanner and IRIS scanner similar to the the big corporate companies who utilise this technology. The bank introduced credit cards with photos, magnetic strips, chip and pin technology as time went on. It got even more sophisticated with unique 12-16 digit ID number, smart QR code, finger print data and a photo embedded in a chip and information connected with a database. The ID cards also use the watermarks and holographic too. They are still used by corporate companies, Airports, airlines, schools and various government agencies have numerous ID cards with varying security features. It would be interesting to research, how many ID cards an average citizen in various countries carry at a given time? Despite all this, The systems were not effective and the counterfeiters have always managed a way to break the security. The race between the counterfeiters and security agencies to outdo each other is a ongoing effort. Some of the stories have made good Hollywood movies.

Coming to the question, Can facial recognition technology replace physical ID cards with Digital ID card for life? I strongly believe that the facial recognition technology can replace the current physical ID's once the technology matures in the coming years. The technology is currently trialed by airports and law enforcement agencies. Read the article - https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/mayoral/future-framework-for-facial-recognition-software. I'm sure the technical/non-technical issues will be ironed out in the coming years. I know there are strong objections in the name of privacy and shortcomings in the facial recognition technology. Scammers and Terrorists don not the see the skin colour, commit crimes and do not bother about their victims age or colour. A few years back, Sceptic believed that the Cloud technologies were not secure and organisation should not move their data centre to the cloud. The opposite is said the by the same sceptics. Similarly, facial recognition technology will mature and reduce the identity and financial thefts.

I strongly believe a combination of facial and fingerprint can be challenging for the counterfeiters to copy and break the security. How much money will forgetter spend to create a 3D image and fingerprint to beat the system? Majority of the population will be safe from the scams as they do not have much to lose.

The next big thing will be to incorporate in our daily life like banking, Driving license, company id cards, visas, hotel rooms, passports and others. How can this be done without intruding your private life is a big question to be answered. The data protection laws like GDPR needs to strengthened to overcome the new challenges that facial recognition will bring in. Despite all this, I still believe it will not replace human physical verification needed at the end of the process and technology is a way which can only enhance and make the whole process easy for the enforcement agencies and the general public.

I am keen to hear your views and thoughts. Feel free to DM me on LinkedIn with your ideas.