3 September 2026

AI and multi-biometric solutions enhance defences

Published in the Institute’s 25th anniversary year and drawn from an annual survey run since 2010, the Biometrics Institute’s 2026 Industry Survey results confirm the focus is no longer on individual biometric modalities, their performance, or standalone application. Instead, industry attention has moved to combining modalities to risk-manage continuous threats such as AI-driven deepfakes, morphs, and injection attacks.

As algorithms improve, so are implementations. The practical questions are becoming interoperability, resilience and oversight rather than the accuracy of any single algorithm, and trust is shifting from trusting the technology to trusting the implementation and the way it is governed.

2026 data reveals:

• AI is no longer just a standalone tool tagged onto a system: Use of AI is considered the most significant development of the past year as it becomes embedded across entire systems to train algorithms and detect synthetic identities
• Combining modalities: Driven by evolving threats, the focus has shifted from single point-in-time verification at enrolment to continuous verification throughout the system lifecycle, with the use of two or more biometric modalities leading expected growth
• Deepfakes as an ongoing risk: Respondents expect synthetic media to be a permanent contest with no end date, causing deepfakes to rise sharply as a market restraint
• Trust and governance drive adoption: Industry concern has shifted toward building public trust, protecting reputation, and navigating regulatory compliance
• Focus pivots to identity infrastructure: Digital wallets and verifiable credentials have surged to top the five-year outlook, showing an industry pivoting toward resilient, interoperable, and fully governed ecosystems

Expectations broaden beyond established modalities

Digital wallets and verifiable credentials lead the five-year outlook as expectations broaden across the wider identity infrastructure rather than concentrating on single application areas. Industry expectations are shifting toward combining more than one biometric modality, as multimodal gains momentum as the practical answer to strengthen system resilience against sophisticated attacks.

Navigating market restraints and deepfake challenges

Privacy and data protection remain the leading market restraint, closely accompanied by concerns over spoofing, deepfakes, and public trust. Marking 25 years of promoting the responsible use of biometrics, these Silver Jubilee survey results highlight how restraints are shifting from practical and legal barriers to fundamental questions of authenticity and confidence.

Industry professionals view the challenge of deepfakes as a permanent reality and an ongoing contest between innovation and countermeasures.

Empowering the community through good practice

This year’s survey reflects an industry whose centre of gravity has moved from the performance of individual technologies to the maturity of the systems around them – how they interoperate, how they withstand attack, and how they are governed and explained to the public.

To provide essential industry intelligence, the Biometrics Institute continues to lead with good practice, including its Three Laws of Biometrics, universally adaptable Privacy Guidelines, and a library of new and updated guidance resources to help organisations implement biometrics responsibly and effectively.

With 84% of respondents tying public acceptance to education on data protection and privacy awareness rather than technical performance alone for the third consecutive year, the Institute is bringing stakeholders together in a trusted environment to address these needs, challenges, and positive outcomes through its upcoming events:

• On the Pulse Meeting (30 September 2026): A dedicated online session on Biometric Watchlists, featuring complimentary access for biometric users globally to support essential public and industry education. Register here
• Biometrics Institute Congress (London, 20–21 October 2026): The annual flagship gathering will explore survey findings in depth, addressing governance, use cases integration, and AI resilience. Learn more

The message this year is clear: Digital ID and biometrics are firmly intertwined; AI will continue to advance; multimodal solutions help build resilient systems; and together with clear governance and education we create the trust essential for widespread adoption.

These and other findings are available in the Biometrics Institute’s 2026 Industry Survey. A summary report of the findings is available for the public, with the full report accessible to members.

ENDS.

Notes to editors:

144 industry professionals across the world completed the online survey in July 2026. The information in this press release is taken from the executive summary of the Industry Survey 2026. For further information on the survey findings, please contact manager@biometricsinstitute.org 

About the Biometrics Institute:

The Biometrics Institute is the independent and impartial international membership organisation for biometric users and other interested parties. Established in 2001, the Institute celebrates its Silver Jubilee in 2026, marking 25 years of promoting the responsible, ethical and effective use of biometrics. It has offices in London and Sydney.

The member register, which represents a global and diverse multi-stakeholder community, lists over 200 membership organisations from 44 countries. It includes banks, airlines, government agencies, biometric experts, privacy experts, suppliers, academics, and 21 Observers representing United Nations agencies, IGOs, and European Union institutions.

The Biometrics Institute connects the global biometrics community. It shares knowledge with its members and key stakeholders and, most importantly, develops good practices and thought leadership for the responsible, ethical and effective use of biometrics.

For more information, please email Marco Lombardi.