Meet Peter van Staveren, project manager at 20face. Peter has a lot of experience as a (senior) project manager in a wide range of different companies. He is part of the 20face team for about 8 months now, and we asked him some questions about his perspective on 20face, facial recognition and privacy.

Why is 20face important?

Face recognition is everywhere, but privacy concerns are always the big issue: what (really) happens with my data, and who has access to my data? 20face is a face recognition company that puts user privacy at the heart of all our services and, of course, in our architecture. Our privacy-proof biometrics approach makes 20face unique. We only use facial recognition with explicit consent of the end user. The end user can revoke his permission at any time and his data will be removed immediately. The Authority Personal Data (Dutch: Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) has recently confirmed to us that our approach is the only acceptable way for applying face recognition in non high-security environments and is sending out warnings and even fines to those parties who do not respect this approach.

What is your contribution?

Within 20face, I am responsible for developing new use cases with potential customers, connecting platforms of access control suppliers to our solution and implementation of projects. Helped by my background in project management and business development, I am always searching for win-win solutions to ensure a solid long-term relationships. Of course, I always do so with a sharp eye on the GDPR.

What is your dream?

A world where I do not have to worry about my privacy. No prohibited cookies, no sneaky camera tracking, profiling or selling my data without my permission. In this world everyone can take full advantage of face recognition, without privacy concern. You won’t need a wallet full of passes, remember loads of passwords, you just need your face. Especially in Europe, we have made great progress towards realizing this dream by implementing the GDPR.

What are you solving now?

Together with my team, we are currently working on connecting 5 more access control platforms, several projects and very exciting: the development of a solution for wander detection to give mentally-impaired elderly in closed facilities more freedom to wander around in their nursing home. Apart from that I am helping customers and business partners to balance business needs and privacy concerns and help them document these results.