IDEMIA Public Security Reinforces Leadership in Trusted Biometrics by Achieving Top Results in NIST's Latest Face Recognition Benchmark

The results reaffirm the company's leadership in one of the industry's most demanding and operationally relevant biometric evaluations.

COURBEVOIE, France, Aug. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- IDEMIA Public Security, the leading provider of secure and trusted biometric-based solutions, today announced that its facial recognition algorithm has achieved top performance in the latest National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)'s Face Recognition Technology Evaluation (FRTE) 1:N Identification benchmark, reaffirming the company's leadership in one of the industry's most demanding and operationally relevant biometric evaluations.

The latest NIST FRTE 1:N Identification results place IDEMIA Public Security #1 in most of the tested scenarios, including the benchmark's two most operationally significant identification scenarios:

• #1 in all Mugshot Identification types, including the largest evaluation conducted by NIST against a gallery of 12 million identities, demonstrating robustness and exceptional accuracy at a national scale.
• #1 in Visa Border Identification, delivering a significant improvement in performance with identification errors reduced by more than 40% compared with IDEMIA Public Security's previous 2025 submission.
• Top Tier in Fairness for False Positive Identification Rate, ensuring that users not only use the most accurate and efficient technology to date but can also be confident that they comply with the most demanding AI regulations in the world.

The FRTE 1:N Identification benchmark evaluates how accurately facial recognition systems identify an individual by searching one face against millions of enrolled identities. Considered one of the world's leading benchmarks for facial recognition technology, it evaluates performance in real-world scenarios including mugshot identification, visa processing, border management, law enforcement investigations, and national identity programs.

As governments and agencies process millions of travelers and identity transactions every day, achieving both exceptional accuracy and scalability have become essential. These latest NIST results demonstrate IDEMIA Public Security's ability to deliver highly accurate identification across some of the world's largest biometric databases, helping organizations strengthen security while enabling faster, more seamless experiences for travelers and citizens.

"Achieving top performance in the latest NIST FRTE 1:N Identification evaluation reflects our continued commitment to pushing the boundaries of biometric innovation," said Vincent Bouatou, Chief Technology Officer, IDEMIA Public Security. "Today's identity ecosystems demand solutions that can accurately identify individuals across databases containing millions of identities while remaining fair, fast, scalable, and operationally efficient. These results validate our investments in AI-driven biometric technologies that enable governments and agencies worldwide to strengthen security while improving the experience for travelers and citizens alike."

Facial recognition has become a cornerstone of many of the world's most critical identity workflows. From border control, automated immigration processing, and visa enrollment to national identity systems, law enforcement investigations, and watchlist identification, organizations rely on accurate and scalable biometric matching to make trusted identity decisions in real time.

This latest achievement builds on IDEMIA Public Security's long-standing track record of excellence in independent biometric evaluations, continuing to earn leading positions across multiple NIST benchmarks and demonstrating consistent innovation in fingerprint and facial recognition technologies that power large-scale trusted identity solutions worldwide. To learn more, click here.

About IDEMIA Group  

IDEMIA Group is a global technology leader with more than 10,700 employees worldwide. Its two market-leading divisions deliver mission-critical solutions that simplify and secure interactions in the physical and digital realms:  

• IDEMIA Public Security (IPS) is a trusted provider of government-grade and secure biometric-based solutions for 600 government, state and federal agencies, as well as organizations requiring identity and access solutions across physical and digital environments. With decades of experience in biometric technologies, IPS enables safer, frictionless and fairer ways to secure travel, access, and citizen protection. Separately, two other government-related activities are conducted by the IDEMIA Group: civilian identity issuance in North America and road safety.  

• IDEMIA Secure Transactions (IST) is the leading technology provider making it safer and easier to pay and connect. With unmatched expertise in cryptography and credential issuance, IST is trusted by over 2000 financial institutions, mobile operators, automotive manufacturers, and IoT providers worldwide. Every day, IST secures billions of essential transactions, ensuring the highest levels of data protection and convenience. 

For more information, please visit www.idemia.com. 

Media contact:     

Genevieve de Vera

IDEMIA Public Security 

(978) 808-7047

genevieve.devera@ps-idemia.com 

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SOURCE IDEMIA