Businesses in India are being told to suspend contact-based biometric time and attendance systems to prevent the spread of Covid-19, say reports. State and local governments in the country have issued a series of protocols, including a halt to fingerprint employee-tracking systems, possibly replaced with a card-based system or facial recognition, after a tech worker in Hyderabad tested positive for the virus.
The Hyderabad Police Commissionerate called together the IT heads of nearly 200 companies to provide them with Standard Operating Procedure guidance, which includes instructions on what to do if a case is detected among employees. Likewise, the Delhi government has asked private companies and municipal corporations to stop using biometric attendance systems.
But can facial recognition replace fingerprint identification if people are wearing masks?
Chinese company Wisesoft says it has developed a 3D facial recognition system in partnership with a research team from Sichuan University that can identify people wearing masks with 98 percent accuracy and collect body temperature, reports China Daily.
A hospital in Chengdu has deployed 140 units of the product already, and Wisesoft says it plans to produce 1,000 more units over the next two months. Other companies, including SenseTime and Telpo also claim to have developed facial biometric technology that works despite masks partially occluding the faces of subjects.
