Liveness Detection
“The specific detection of whether a sensor is viewing a live biometric – as opposed to a recording, picture, or another non-living spoof – is commonly known as liveness.” – The Biometric Institute
Liveness detection is used in biometric verification and biometric authentication systems to prevent criminals or impostors from spoofing the system using photographs, videos, masks, or other non-living artifacts.
There are many different technologies and methods of assuring liveness. For example, some liveness vendors use involuntary motion to prove the liveness of an individual – the technology may ask a person to move their head in a certain direction or read out characters displayed on the screen. This is known as active liveness.
Other liveness vendors, iProov being one of them, use passive liveness. Passive liveness is more inclusive and delivers security without asking the user to follow complex instructions, which means that completion rates are higher and drop-off is lower. You can read more about the difference between active and passive liveness here.
Liveness technologies are also different when it comes to security. Some liveness technologies offer limited security, suitable only for very low-risk scenarios. At the other end of the scale, iProov Dynamic Liveness delivers liveness with the highest levels of security. Most organizations need flexibility, which is why iProov offers Express Liveness and Dynamic Liveness to provide the right liveness solution for all verification and authentication scenarios.
There are many other differences too – accuracy, cost, privacy, scalability, and performance. That’s why it’s important to choose the right liveness vendor – read our guide.