Using Face Recognition to Reduce Proxy Check-Ins

A proxy check-in happens when someone records attendance for another person. Face recognition ties a check-in to an enrolled face instead of relying only on a shared code or card. Liveness checks add a check on the camera input.

These controls can help address impersonation. They do not guarantee that every attempt will be detected.

Correction, October 23, 2026: This article previously promised the elimination of time theft and included unsupported statistics, response times, compliance claims, and savings figures. Those claims have been withdrawn. This is an operational guide, not a documented customer case study.

Start with enrollment and placement

Enroll the intended members, choose a camera position suited to the space, and test under normal lighting. Keep enrollment and administrative access under the control of authorized staff.

Provide a way to review failed or disputed check-ins. A recognition failure should be investigated rather than automatically treated as proof that someone was absent.

Review the record, not just the match

A face match identifies an enrolled member at check-in. Review recorded times against the organization's attendance rules before using them for payroll.

Check for missing punches, unexpected times, and manual adjustments. A check-in and check-out alone do not establish continuous work throughout the interval.

Use Cloud when review happens elsewhere

A single-office team can use Cloud to review synced records without collecting files from the attendance computer. Free Cloud includes CSV export within its history and capacity limits. Paid plans add PDF and Excel daily time records, face-template sync, and more capacity.

During an internet outage, local recording can continue. Cloud only shows records that have reached it, so check sync status before treating a report as complete.

Set expectations before rollout

Explain enrollment, access, and removal practices to the people affected. Establish the organization's privacy requirements and processing grounds before enrollment.

Track disputed check-ins and the time spent reviewing records to understand how the setup is working for your team.

See Desktop and Cloud options and privacy information.