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Biometrics in Russia: big step into the future or next step to big brother?
Starting from December 1, Russians will be able to pay for travel in the metro, as well as goods and services in online and offline stores using biometrics. To do this, their face and voice casts must be registered in the Unified Biometric System (UBS). This term was approved by the authorities at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko.
"Some of the projects were planned to be launched in 2024, but Grigorenko instructed to speed up their implementation. We are talking about a service for starting a business online, making an electronic signature for businesses and civil servants, and confirming the identity of a passenger when boarding a train, " Vedomosti writes.
EBS is a system that stores and processes facial and voice casts of Russian citizens to provide them with various services online. The EBS was established in 2018 on the initiative of the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media (the successor is the Ministry of Digital Development) and the Bank of Russia, and at the end of 2021 it received state status. The system is operated by CBT, a subsidiary of Rostelecom. However, the system was not popular: by the fall of 2020, a little more than 150 thousand people had registered in the EBS.
In order to fill the EBS with data, the authorities legally obliged banks to transfer biometrics from their own databases to the EBS. From November 28, 2023, it will be processed and stored only within the unified system. The process of transferring biometrics began in June of this year. Banks warned customers that the data would be sent for storage in the EBS – the citizen had the right to refuse this. The transfer of biometrics by banks takes place in accordance with the legislation and established procedures. According to the Ministry of Digital Development, 74.2 million Russians have already submitted their biometric data, most of which is held by banks. A representative of the Ministry of Digital Development clarified to Vedomosti that we are talking about more than 50 million casts of the face and voice.
The project on bioequiring (payment for goods and services) is implemented by the Bank of Russia together with the NSPK and the CBT. This method of payment at online and offline points of sale can be used by citizens who have passed biometrics in the EBS, have a confirmed account on Gosuslugi and the SBPei application. At first, you can use this method to pay for purchases up to 2500 rubles, but as the project develops, the amount of the receipt will increase.
Experts believe that this type of payment will become popular and in demand, since such services are convenient to use and the most secure. However, the use of biometrics should remain voluntary and be a conscious choice of the individual. In addition, the development of payment technology will require participants in the process to continuously improve the reliability of data transmission systems.
The CBT assures that the risks of using the services today are reduced to zero. When providing services, third-party organizations process only mathematically transformed data-vectors that cannot be used to reconstruct individual customer characteristics. EBS stores only casts of faces and voices – it does not contain such information as full name, address, passport, etc. Therefore, even if an attacker tries to gain access to the data, it will be impossible to determine who they belong to, the CBT says.
Starting from December 1, Russians will be able to pay for travel in the metro, as well as goods and services in online and offline stores using biometrics. To do this, their face and voice casts must be registered in the Unified Biometric System (UBS). This term was approved by the authorities at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko.
"Some of the projects were planned to be launched in 2024, but Grigorenko instructed to speed up their implementation. We are talking about a service for starting a business online, making an electronic signature for businesses and civil servants, and confirming the identity of a passenger when boarding a train, " Vedomosti writes.
EBS is a system that stores and processes facial and voice casts of Russian citizens to provide them with various services online. The EBS was established in 2018 on the initiative of the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media (the successor is the Ministry of Digital Development) and the Bank of Russia, and at the end of 2021 it received state status. The system is operated by CBT, a subsidiary of Rostelecom. However, the system was not popular: by the fall of 2020, a little more than 150 thousand people had registered in the EBS.
In order to fill the EBS with data, the authorities legally obliged banks to transfer biometrics from their own databases to the EBS. From November 28, 2023, it will be processed and stored only within the unified system. The process of transferring biometrics began in June of this year. Banks warned customers that the data would be sent for storage in the EBS – the citizen had the right to refuse this. The transfer of biometrics by banks takes place in accordance with the legislation and established procedures. According to the Ministry of Digital Development, 74.2 million Russians have already submitted their biometric data, most of which is held by banks. A representative of the Ministry of Digital Development clarified to Vedomosti that we are talking about more than 50 million casts of the face and voice.
The project on bioequiring (payment for goods and services) is implemented by the Bank of Russia together with the NSPK and the CBT. This method of payment at online and offline points of sale can be used by citizens who have passed biometrics in the EBS, have a confirmed account on Gosuslugi and the SBPei application. At first, you can use this method to pay for purchases up to 2500 rubles, but as the project develops, the amount of the receipt will increase.
Experts believe that this type of payment will become popular and in demand, since such services are convenient to use and the most secure. However, the use of biometrics should remain voluntary and be a conscious choice of the individual. In addition, the development of payment technology will require participants in the process to continuously improve the reliability of data transmission systems.
The CBT assures that the risks of using the services today are reduced to zero. When providing services, third-party organizations process only mathematically transformed data-vectors that cannot be used to reconstruct individual customer characteristics. EBS stores only casts of faces and voices – it does not contain such information as full name, address, passport, etc. Therefore, even if an attacker tries to gain access to the data, it will be impossible to determine who they belong to, the CBT says.
