CFIUS made a poor decision in 2016 when it approved the EyeVerify acquisition and allowed Ant Group to take full ownership of Zoloz and its biometrics data on U.S. individuals. It’s time to reconsider the export licenses involved.

Zoloz was established in 2017 as the result of a combination of biometrics and authentication tech from Ant Group and EyeVerify, a Kansas City-based biometrics software company that Ant acquired in September 2016.

The company is 100% owned by Ant Group and under the leadership of Ant’s CTO and President of Alipay, Ni Xingjun. It remains headquartered in Kansas City, MO.

Zoloz’s authentication tech is reportedly embedded in at least three dozen US tech companies and banks, incl. Wells Fargo. Its engineers are also now involved in Alibaba’s government-backed high-tech R&D projects.

The personal data collected by Zoloz includes biometric (fingerprints, eyeprints, facial, voiceprints), behavioral (handwriting, gait, typing, wifi networks), and knowledge/objects data. Once again, this includes data on American individuals.

According to Zoloz, the company stores personal data in the country where services are provided - with cross-border transfer exceptions “if necessary.”

PS fun fact - Zoloz’s Chinese competitors include Megvii, SenseTime, Yitu, and Huawei. This means that three of China’s key facial recognition tech companies are either backed or wholly-owned by Alibaba and Ant Group.