How to Improve and Strengthen Online Transaction Security

January 5, 2021

by Sonic Kuo with One Comment Post-Pandemic Topics Solutions

Less Time Outdoors Means More Time Online

While COVID-19 continues to spread, people continue to spend less time outdoors and are making fewer trips to shops in order to curb transmission. To circumvent outings, many have opted to conduct transactions online from home – things like online banking, mobile banking, and online shopping have all seen increases. There has been a 30-40% annual growth in people’s online transactions since the outbreak, which is significant in its wider implications.

Public health management awareness has increased due to COVID-19 and in order to reduce the number of outbreaks, banks have actively marketed digital access services such as more feature-rich online and mobile banking options. Multi-factor authentication instruments and systems in financial applications solve time & location restrictions and are also cashless. They can also help us avoid potentially dangerous contact and greatly increase the frequency of public use. However, this pandemic has changed life and our transactional patterns, causing some banks to focus on internet banking while closing some physical branches.

Online Transaction Security

As the public’s demand for online transactions has greatly increased, the importance of internet transaction security mechanisms has become more clear. Traditional verification mechanisms are still mainly based on password input, and are matched via mobile phone text messages or email dynamic password verification. However, the security of these users’ information is still at a very high risk of being cracked and obtained for misappropriation.

While fingerprints have been used as a type of multi-factor authentication, the hardware needed for transportable mass adoption is not available. Fortunately, there is another biometric technology available in our smartphones. Combining the camera and some edge AI software, we can use facial recognition as a secure and reliable second layer of authentication in order to access files, systems, or even make financial transactions.

Facial recognition used as a dynamic and secure form of verification treats each face as a unique access key password. Users can be effectively protected through using this unique biometric (their face) and a deep learning recognition engine. With FR-MOTP from Gorilla Technology, each time you need to access a system or make a transaction, your password is the first line of defense and your face is the second and more unique key to making secure transactions.

Considering the importance and frequency of the many online transactions we make, it’s apparent that multi-factor authentication should be used whenever possible. When facial recognition multi-factor authentication is used regularly, every transaction is made safe and the overall security level of digital transactions on the internet is improved.

New Disaster Shelters Use Edge AI to Manage Pandemics

November 13, 2020

by Kirin Lee with No Comment Post-Pandemic Topics

As we all begin to live with the global aftermath of Covid-19, the challenge is in creating smarter and safer disaster shelters to alleviate the heavy loads put on hospitals when another infectious disease breaks out or when the next natural disaster occurs.

During any given season of the year, countries face the threat of natural disasters – typhoons, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, wildfires, earthquakes, and tsunamis.

Pain Points of Traditional Disaster Shelters

As Covid-19 has brought to light, creating and using impromptu shelters for disease control and prevention leaves much to be desired. Here are a few ways that traditional disaster shelters have failed in the wake of Covid-19 and taught us lessons about what we can improve upon:

Disaster shelters are typically set up in schools, gyms, public halls or community centers with little or no patient-to-patient or doctor-to-patient separation.
They require a large number of front-line staff to manage everything on the ground.
Due to the urgency in accommodating large numbers of victims in these places, these makeshift indoor spaces are often overcrowded and utilized as much as possible.

Due to the situations above, an unexpected and innumerable amount of group infections occurred when the first wave of Covid-19 hit. Because of that, however, we can learn how to improve on the idea of how a disaster shelter should be created.

New Disaster Shelter Criteria

In countries like Taiwan and Japan where natural disasters occur frequently, governments have come up with guidelines for new kinds of disaster shelters. For example, the Office of the Cabinet of Japan has formulated the following criteria for the creation of these new disaster shelters:

Prepare more sites in advance for disaster shelters in order to reroute much of the affected population.
To avoid gathering in large crowds, it is recommended that affected people seek refuge at the homes of relatives or friends.
All people entering the disaster shelter must be physically examined.
Disaster shelters should focus on maintaining good ventilation.
Disaster shelters must provide dedicated spaces for people with fevers or other symptoms, and provide a dedicated bathroom to people with abnormal health symptoms if possible.

In the past and under normal conditions, the government advocated that these items be strictly followed. Yet these key guidelines are quite difficult to maintain in an emergency situation.

Edge AI Solutions in New Disaster Shelters

There are many governments and local authorities in countries that are paying attention to how AI technology can be used in shelters in areas at high risk for natural disasters. For example, using an access control system with contactless temperature detection combined with facial recognition technology can record body temperature and personal data when anyone enters the shelter. That data can then be linked to a specific face identity. Because the system is contactless, it can help avoid transmission between the front-line staff and the admitted person because the device replaces the front-line staff with technology.

Furthermore, physical methods have been used to block people from associating with one another. This is achieved by creating spaces separated by plastic or cardboard dividers. Video analytics can be used to confirm the number of people in each area is within limits. Using AI identification along with personnel management can work together to efficiently strengthen protocols and efficiency.

In addition, mask detection video analytics can be used to identify whether or not an entrant is actually wearing a mask. This cuts the common reliance on staff to check at entry and exit points, thus again reducing the need for front-line staff.

Loss or theft of relief supplies for disaster shelters is often a problem. It’s impossible to allocate people to monitor these materials 24/7. If there are non-staff wandering around the storage area, video analytics can alert the proper personnel and warn them to take necessary action.

Finally, in case an infected person does enter a shelter, focusing on contact tracing methods to effectively locate all the people they have interacted with to prevent further spread of the disease is important as well. Carrying out effective contact tracing, quarantines, and similar measures can benefit from technology and is being closely watched by governments and local administrations.

Transforming the Traditional with Edge AI

Covid-19 is a pandemic the likes of which the world has never seen and transforming traditional shelters into a more intelligent disaster refuge is an issue that all governments must address. Gorilla’s edge AI technology is leveraged in creating a variety of post-pandemic solutions that governments and countries can adopt. In the future, Gorilla Technology will continue to produce the most advanced video analytics and will continue to develop products that contribute to society.

5 Ways Video Analytics Can Help Manage Covid-19

September 16, 2020

by Mike Wang with No Comment Post-Pandemic Topics Solutions

Since the pandemic began, wearing face masks and social distancing have been used as preventive guidelines for individuals, organizations, and governments to follow. Many governments have gone so far as to make those guidelines into mandates and laws.

Whether guidelines or laws, it’s still the responsibility of society to maintain these and make sure a second wave of the pandemic does not accelerate out of control. But how can organizations or governments monitor or even execute these rules with limited human resources and no smart methodologies on hand?

We recommend intelligent video analytics — AI technology interpreting IP video sources. Preventive measures like mask wearing and social distancing guidelines can be easily monitored as well as executed. Below are five examples of intelligent video analytics from Gorilla Technology and their use cases that can help you make a proactive difference in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic:

1. Facial Recognition

Employing no-touch access control reduces physical contact with devices and people, which can drastically reduce transmission of the virus.

2. Mask/No-Mask & Eyewear Facial Recognition

Mask guidelines and mandates are in effect to some degree all over the world and leveraging edge AI to assist in enforcing these regulations decreases required manpower and increases efficacy in areas where personal protective equipment is required.

3. Crowd Detection with Occupancy Analysis

As social distancing is part of the new normal, people counting and crowd detection can help keep transmission risks to a minimum.

4. Crowd Detection

Once offices reopen, management can ensure break rooms and other gathering spots remain safe and not overcrowded with edge AI zone capacity alerts.

5. Heatmap and People Counting

Good air quality in high foot traffic areas is important and heatmap & people counting analytics can empower HVAC systems to circulate air appropriately to keep infection risks low.

We firmly believe in and see the benefits of implementing intelligent video analytics that can adapt to many situations — it saves time, money, and makes it easier to quickly solve new and unforeseen challenges, like what we are experiencing now with Covid-19.

For more info about this topic, refer to our solutions on Post-Pandemic Area Management. Also, if you’d like a deeper dive on the technology or specific cases, our whitepapers offer more details.

The Woes of the Modern-Day Air Traveler – Could Facial Recognition Bring Back Some Measure of Joy?

June 8, 2020

by Justin Boothe with One Comment Post-Pandemic Topics Solutions

Remember years ago when travel used to be enjoyable? Friends and family could come inside and have lunch with you before your departure or meeting you at the gate as you stepped off the plane. Security wasn’t so picky as to what you could bring in your overnight bag. Plenty of non-stop routes. Lots of seating room on airlines? Remember when? I do. That’s how it was when I began my career in biometrics nearly 25 years ago.

Well, as we all know, the events that took place on 9/11 changed air travel forever. The last 19 years have been plagued by rules and regulations just to get inside security. Don’t get me started on trying to find a place to grab a quick lunch where you can actually sit down and eat. The airports are packed with people from all of the connections, you’re lucky to find a counter to lean on. Airlines now cram as many seats into one airplane as possible to maximize revenues using fewer planes which also means fewer direct routes. More connections, more security. The list goes on and on. Let’s face it, the fun has been taken out of air travel.

Now ring in the new year. Its 2020, air travel is simply a necessary evil of today’s global workforce. Then Covid-19 hits and the world realized that the 300,000+ flights daily from all over the world are helping to spread the disease like wildfire.

So – what are the CDC and industry leaders talking about now to further protect air travel? Mask wearing is being instituted by airlines around the globe. Some airports are also calling for it, handing out masks to travelers that forgot theirs at home. It seems we’ll be required masks from the time we step into the airport, till the time we leave the airport in the destination city. How will you have an enjoyable meal wearing a mask? How will you feel after breathing your own air all day? Imagine meetings with a customer or vendor in an airport wearing a mask? I’m annoyed just thinking about it. Then there is the potential for temperature screenings which no doubt will make the lines even longer.

The question on my mind is, could facial recognition bring back some convenience to air travel? What if you could check in using just your face? Go through security using your face without passing documents and germs back and forth? Could you use your face as your boarding pass to eliminate people fumbling with the screen brightness on their phones or for the old-fashioned sort who use paper passes, losing them in their luggage. For this to become a reality, facial recognition with mask detection will be required.

Many airlines have been thinking about how to make opt-in programs for frequent travelers to provide perks beyond what is available today as just another number. What if the gate agent could hold the door a little longer because they knew a diamond member was moments away? What about the many airline lounges welcoming you by name as they recognize you walking by? Could other services be brought to you if the store or restaurant knew you were nearby? Using facial recognition with mask detection – the possibilities are as broad as our imagination.

Given all of the inconveniences in today’s air travel, would you opt in with your face to make your day a little brighter? It’s all about personalization or picking the frequent traveler out of the crowd to offer special services that haven’t been previously available. It’s time facial recognition becomes a reality for those that want some relief from the modern-day inconvenience.

To read more, click on what interests you below:

Post-Pandemic Area Management

Video Analytics

Edge AI

Whitepapers

Data Privacy in the Post-Pandemic World

May 29, 2020

by Andries Schutte, Vicky Tsao and Silvia Kuo with No Comment Post-Pandemic Topics

The Dilemma of Data Security in Crisis Situations

Since the advent of this global pandemic, governments worldwide and their health authorities have been accused of privacy breaches and overreach because of increased surveillance and tracking of primarily infected patients, their recent physical connections and people on their contact lists, but also of the public in general.

Governments are caught in a dilemma, where they need to protect the public on the one hand, while on the other hand they have enacted data privacy laws to protect the personal information of citizens.

The Need to Navigate Data Privacy

Companies need to navigate this data privacy environment while also providing solutions to assist businesses and governments to implement and manage guidelines.

Governments have in some cases suspended the implementation of, or created loopholes for, data privacy laws as well as other laws, because of the pandemic’s impact. However, in some cases these legal loopholes are not clearly defined, so new technology providers in the biometrics and data security sectors, such as Gorilla still need to be aware of the compliance requirements.

Data Privacy Concerns and Solutions

Artificial intelligence software that performs computer vision tasks like facial recognition is facing many concerns regarding how data is acquired, processed, and stored. Specifically, concerns of personal location and identity data have been brought up as of late. Currently, data standards and data best practices as policy are the agreed upon answer to these concerns.

Location and Identity Data

The main concern for Gorilla is where a video camera system is in operation and using IVAR™ and BAP to process information for the purpose of facial recognition – which is the most sensitive item of personal information when it is linked to a person’s identity. This would potentially include the scenario where face mask detection is used. Solutions that aid organizations in regulating access to their premises are in high demand. The goal is to safeguard employees’ health, making sure that face coverings are being worn and that employees accessing the workplace do not have a high temperature. However, the use of biometrics for access control has proven to be controversial for the workforce going back to the office. Smart City solutions and Smart Surveillance systems have also been received with skepticism, as facial recognition plays a key role in the architecture of such innovations.

In the commercial sector, Smart Retail solutions will be less affected provided that the data collected is used for statistical purposes (such as people counting), or to ensure customers keep social distance. Temperature scanning with IR cameras is in the same category as people counting – it is not personal information per se, unless combined with other identification data.

Certified Data Standards and Systems

The current ISO management security certifications can serve as a basis to build from in order to develop a more secure handling and storage system for private information. Systems Integrator partners can place a disclaimer notice next to or near the camera system notifying patrons of the use of the facial recognition software, if any.

Implementation of Data Privacy Best Practices

Gorilla’s solutions are GDPR friendly as we don’t store any facial recognition images in our system. Our partners could schedule a regular and recurring time slot to erase the data based on the laws and regulations in their deployed countries. In addition, network security is a priority at Gorilla. As a trusted solutions provider to various government entities, we have experience collaborating in highly sensitive projects where data security is of the utmost importance.

Where We Go from Here with Data Privacy

Gorilla continuously works to minimize risks to itself and to the data subjects by requesting or highlighting to our partners and customers that they properly handle the private information in line with the laws and regulations.

In complying with the GDPR, other data privacy laws in other countries, and together with our partners, we can avoid possible sanctions by the authorities and ensure we are safeguarding people’s privacy. By making sure they comply with local data privacy laws and regulations and by implementing necessary procedures for data processing, recording, safe keeping and deletion or release, risks can be minimized by Systems Integrators or Technology Partners.

Gorilla is implementing its current privacy policies and also developing inter-company agreements for data processing from its affiliates, partners and end-users, while strengthening its security management procedures.

Final Thoughts on Data Privacy for a Better Tomorrow

The new world that is unfolding in front of us will require the use of new technologies to ensure that we can tackle future social health threats. Caution towards the use of solutions requiring private data usage is corollary to the rapid changes we’re experiencing. The transformation, albeit fast and starkly different to what we’re used to, should not be simply deemed Orwellian. Transparency, healthy control systems and the commitment of all parties involved in abiding by these principles will become crucial, as they will be the most effective way to protect us against the infringement of privacy.

Lifting the Lockdown with Edge AI Technologies

Countries are gradually lifting their lockdown policies with the hope that life will go back to what we knew before as normal. However, we are all conscious of the fact that the impact of Covid-19 has redefined our understanding of normalcy forever.

One of the most significant consequences of the pandemic is the acceleration in the adoption of technology to optimize and automate operations. We have seen a steep increase in the demand for edge AI solutions over the past months in preparation for the world after COVID-19. Gorilla Technology has developed a dedicated solution that is not only flexible and scalable, but also market-ready. The solution taps existing products which have been customized to focus on helping businesses achieve the following goals:

Monitor Social Distancing
Optimize Service Efficiency
Automate Operational Processes
Improve Overall Store Hygiene

The New Normal for Service and Retail Business

It has become increasingly important during lock-down to monitor social distancing. Inside brick and mortar stores such as supermarkets, governments have restricted the number of people allowed within any given area at any one time.

Entrances and Access Control

Currently, staff has been diverted to manage people flow at the entrance of stores – a process that comes wrought with unavoidable human error and inefficiency. To combat this, when more businesses reopen their doors we can deploy and see edge AI video analytics performing automated people counting at the door, with minimal staff engagement required. Screens at entrances will show the exact number of people currently in the store, as well as the max occupancy allowed. The queue outside the store will be separated by marks on the floor. Once inside the store, automatic alcohol dispensers will be placed at various points for customers to use as they like.

For businesses that don’t need to keep their doors open during business hours, an access control device can be deployed at the entrance to measure peoples’ temperatures and grant or deny access accordingly. These devices can be equipped with Gorilla’s facial recognition technology in IVAR™, which includes mask detection and can integrate with temperature sensors. In order to provide flexibility, solutions need to be scalable, cost-efficient, and contactless. The choice will naturally be to deploy edge devices able to run AI analytics and convert this into real-time data. The key tool behind it will be computer vision.

Analytics On the Sales Floor

Inside the store, behavior analytics based on video footage will be used to monitor trends over time. The importance of gaining a bird’s eye view of customer’s behavior in the store is crucial for further action.

Businesses want to understand which areas in the store were frequented more in order to do proper sanitation. This data can also reveal customer preferences, which in turn can lead to more effective inventory management as well as an improvement in in-store product placement. Popular products can be placed in more accessible areas, but also, this can benefit the business owners by allowing them to better manage the shelf-space fee from vendors.

Having precise information about how much time people are spending in certain areas (dwell time) could prove valuable in assisting health organizations perform contact tracing. The contact history of the infected person can then be accurately traced, to inform people that have unknowingly been in contact with them. In addition to this, with the same dwell time information, retailers can correlate the data to uncover the exact product that people are spending more time looking at and tweak their supply chain accordingly.

Previous to the pandemic, most of the sourcing in retail chains was done through personal relationships between vendors and buyers. Decision making was largely made by buyers who relied on their own experience, a system that is time consuming and not quickly replicated. The pressing need to automate and make decisions based on precise data will become indispensable for businesses reopening in the post-pandemic era.

POS and Check-Out

The need for social distancing will not subside for a long time. Some businesses estimate that such measures will need to be kept in place for the next two to three years. In view of this, the areas where people are likely to concentrate within brick and mortar stores are crucial. The check-out area is one of these high risk areas where edge AI video analytics can help manage the amount of people queuing up in order to reduce wait times.

Crowd detection analytics in computer vision solutions like IVAR can help detect the number of people in a determined zone and send a notification to appropriate staff when the amount of people exceeds a pre-established limit. Once staff is notified, they can reduce check-out time by opening more counters to serve more people.

Reopening Through Digital Transformation

If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is to pause and reflect on our business practices. This forced halt in our daily activities has no doubt impacted us negatively, but has also allowed the world to reset itself and find new best practices.

It has made us humble about our own limitations and brought us together to collaborate as a community. It has put into question the way we consume, and striped our purchases to the bare necessities. It has also pushed organizations that were hesitant about digitalization to quickly pivot and adapt. In the wake of the pandemic, the service and retail industries will go back to business transformed – empowered by AI-driven technology and enhanced by data-driven decision making.

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Posts tagged: face recognition