On the safeguarding aspect, the focus has been on assuring art pieces are at all times under surveillance, from the moment they are on restoration to the exhibition or auction. There are no fewer tribulations regarding transportation. A recent podcast by The Guardian “How to move a masterpiece: the secret business of shipping priceless artwork” highlights the huge challenges, not only from a logistics point of view but also in terms of guaranteeing integrity and security.

Finally, the issue of provenance is a constant reminder to the professionals in this area. Not only because it touches on the delicate point of the forgery but also requires a historical track that art pieces were passed from one person to another in legitimate ways. Indeed, Interpol itself has raised this very issue and suggested ways how to tackle it in its symposium “Protecting cultural heritage by disrupting the illicit trade”.

Concerns for biometric adoption

According to Touchless Biometrics, the case for adopting biometric solutions is compelling because they cover all three key concerns identified:

Safeguard: Access to storage rooms can be restricted to a limited number of people which all parties deem safe. The solution provides secure and assured identification with transparent records. That helps to prevent misplacement, theft, or other criminal activities. The German parliament passed a draft of a new anti-money laundering law, stating that regulations around art dealers also include warehouses, intermediaries, and auction houses (DW).

Traceability: Identification through biometric features must not be limited to one end. While in transport, not only the art pieces should be tracked via barcodes or RFID tags but also the deliverers should use portable biometric devices. Thus, biometric solutions help to identify where a piece is presently located and also record the last responsible person who deposited the item in such a location.

Provenance: Authenticity is the most important issue in artwork trading. Some have even called for efforts to develop a method of embedding an artist's fingerprint in a work by using a biometric authentication system (WHS Art Trading Platform). Beyond that, origin-through-identification can evolve into attaching works of art to gallery owners.

Touchless Biometric Systems is the specialist behind some of the world’s largest security integrators and countless resellers – providing biometric expertise, products, and solutions in access control and time & attendance. Timeless aesthetics, flexible functionality, and radical simplicity are the elemental areas where TBS believes it stands out from the rest.

TBS boasts a unique position in biometric access control with experience and collaborations throughout the world. In the world of fine art and auctions, biometric devices can offer compelling solutions with great security features and accuracy, adaptable form factors, and convenience. According to TBS, biometric installations do not need to be intimidating, and they can be discreet, elegant, and easy to use, in fact, perhaps pieces of art themselves.