We've Added Biometric Authentication to our Mobile Apps

What is Biometric Authentication?

Biometric authentication is a security process that uses your unique biological characteristics to verify your identity, primarily through facial recognition or fingerprint scanning.

We’ve added biometric authentication to all three of our mobile apps; the D4H Personnel App, the D4H Equipment App, and the D4H Incident Management App.

This update enables you to use the biometric authentication on your device; your FaceID (facial recognition), or TouchID (fingerprint) to verify it is you using the app. This will work on any Android or iOS device that has the latest version of our apps downloaded.

Why it’s Important

Even though your mobile device might be secured with a pin code or biometric authentication, it generally doesn’t time out very quickly. This means that your data could be vulnerable if you put your phone or tablet down while it is still unlocked and someone else gets to it.

Even if someone else is using your phone with your permission they could easily switch apps and view sensitive data that needs to be protected.

How it Works

Biometric authentication means that your D4H data is encrypted at rest, so you’ll need to verify your identity every time you leave the app or switch between apps. This eliminates the risk of the wrong person accessing sensitive data, even if your mobile device is unlocked. It also means that other apps on your mobile device cannot access your data since it’s encrypted with your biometric information.

If you switch to another app, we will also lock the screen of the app so that an old screen is not visible in your task manager.

If you fail to biometrically authenticate your identity three times the app will ask for your PIN. You can also opt out of biometric authentication at any time for shared devices.