Does Increasing Data Privacy Regulations And New Index Bode Well For IAM And Identity-Bound Biometric Companies?

The $3 trillion cryptocurrency industry has been beset with issues of identity theft and fraud.

The news of hackers making off with $600 million in a crypto heist in January created heightened panic and anxiety for investors, and it wasn’t the only hack to make headlines in recent months.

As the popularity of crypto and other online services increases, companies operating in this domain may need to address issues of data security and access management to survive and be successful.

What Is Digital Identity?

In access management, digital identity is defined as a set of measurable and validated digital attributes and credentials used by a computer to identify an external entity, be it a person, program or organization. It can include characteristics such as a Social Security number, unique identification number, name, date of birth or biometrics.

In a highly digital world where online transactions and interactions are the norm, digital identity could become a trusted source of verification for online users.

But every time a digital identity is used online, it opens up opportunities for the digital identity issuer and verifier to collect data about the holder, putting the user’s privacy and personal information security at risk.

While Meta Platforms Inc.’s META Facebook and Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL Google are lauded for their single sign-on (SSO) methodology, which provides access to a slew of platforms as a convenience to their users, many such options could come at the cost of data privacy. 

This is where identity and access management (IAM) come in. Basing digital identity as its foundation, IAM uses a group of technologies that work together to manage and track digital identities, enabling organizations to manage user privileges, and secure access.

BIO-key International Inc. BKYI is one provider of secure identity and access management and Identity-Bound Biometric solutions that boasts decades of expertise and a proven track record of successful IAM  initiatives in financial services, healthcare, education, manufacturing, communication, transportation and government.

According to BIO-key, its patented technology and world-class algorithms ensure only approved users have access to protected information, resulting in superior data privacy and rendering information inaccessible and unusable for potential bad actors.

First an Index For Digital Infrastructure And Connectivity, Now One for Data Privacy & Digital Identity

October 2020 saw Europe’s first digital infrastructure themed exchange-traded fund (ETF) — the Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity Undertaking for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) ETF DIGI — listed on the London Stock Exchange. The DIGI ETF focuses exclusively on digital infrastructure and connectivity, tracking the Tematica Bita Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity Index (TBDIGI) developed by Thematic Research firm and index provider Tematica Research, LLC. The fund is touted as a revolutionary product, capturing companies that are positioned to benefit most from the explosive growth of the digital infrastructure of expanding users, data, applications and bandwidth. 

Recently, Tematica Research developed its latest new and unique index  – the Tematica BITA Digital Privacy and Digital Identity Index (PRIV), which aims to provide a means to track a group of companies focused on maintaining secure access to authorized individuals through digital identity management products and services for corporations and individuals. 

PRIV comprises 26 global equities that are at the forefront of the data privacy and digital identity revolution, and BIO-key is among them.

Some of the other names include ForgeRock Inc. FORG, Avast plc AVST, Kape Technologies PLC KAPE, Intellicheck Inc. IDN and Sailpoint Technologies Holdings Inc. SAIL. 

A Versatile And Scalable IAM platform?

BIO-key lists PortalGuard® as a single, unified IAM platform that provides flexible single sign-on and authentication options to meet customers’ security goals and deliver an optimized user experience. 

According to the company website, software as a service (SaaS), on-premises and private cloud options make PortalGuard easy to deploy. It supports nearly every cloud authentication federation standard, all major directories and a wide variety of authentication methods – many of which offer the usability and security benefits of Identity-Bound Biometrics (IBB). 

BIO-key’s Identity-Bound Biometrics (IBB) centrally stores biometric data in a nonreversible way to create a unique biometric identity that’s used to verify the person taking action. 

The company’s expertise in developing and deploying IBB has helped it curate a platform that establishes trust that is rooted in a person’s biometric identity. IBB offers great flexibility, supports many authentication factors or methods, and ensures only the highest levels of security integrity and privacy are met – all while doing so more affordably than traditional authentication systems.You can learn more about BIO-key and its products here.

This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice.

Featured photo by Vadim Bogulov on Unsplash