Tina Srivastava | Lecturer
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. Tina P. Srivastava is an MIT-trained rocket scientist, entrepreneur, technology expert, author and the inventor of more than 30 patents. Dr. Srivastava earned her PhD, SM, and SB, all from MIT. She is also an FAA-certified pilot and Lecturer at MIT in the areas of flying, meteorology, and technology roadmapping. Dr. Srivastava’s book, Innovating in a Secret World, has received many accolades since its release, and Dr. Srivastava also regularly takes the stage at major industry conferences like the Harvard Social Enterprise Conference, Identiverse, and Authenticate, and has been invited for her thought leadership at Liminal’s State of Identity, the Cybersecurity Readiness Podcast, and others. Dr. Srivastava is experienced in designing security technologies and bringing them to market, both in defense and commercial sectors. Dr. Srivastava served as Chief Engineer of electronic warfare programs at Raytheon, where she successfully led a $40 million advanced radio frequency program. She also founded a cybersecurity startup that was acquired by a public company and the global leader in network assurance and security, and is co-founder of Badge Inc., an identity and security company. She also serves on the Board of Directors of IDPro and the Hiller Aviation Museum.

Appearances:

Identity Week America - Day 2 @ 14:20

Proof of human: Biometric ethics, scoped credentials, and accountability when agents act for us

This session examines the ethics of biometrics through the lens of what is actually enforceable today. It begins with the key legislation and policy frameworks shaping biometric collection and consent, then turns to recent rulings in Illinois — one jurisdiction that has defined this space — and how they are reshaping risk calculations well beyond state lines. From there, it moves to practice: specific examples from banking and finance, including in Europe, where institutions are tackling these questions at scale in customer onboarding, contact-center authentication, and workforce access.

AI agents put pressure on the one assumption every consent regime depends on — that the enrolled subject is present at the moment their identity is used. The talk lays out a concrete approach to that gap: enforcing cryptographically scoped, short-lived credentials that bind an agent's authority to narrow and auditable limits, and using biometric verification as the gate on escalation, so a real human remains genuinely in the loop rather than nominally accountable. Attendees will gain a working framework for delegation boundaries, a candid view of where current approaches fall short, and the ethical implications to consider in design.

Tina Srivastava, Lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Identity Week America - Day 2 @ 15:00

Panel: Is passwordless inevitable? Adoption, friction, and the zero-trust reality

Review the adoption of passwordless technologies and assess whether 'passwordless' is feasible and/or necessary
Identify which challenges for adoption of zero-trust methodologies are a resuly of increased friction, lack of interoperability, or undereducated users
Examine leading use cases from a variety of sectors that have transitioned to passwordless authentication
Discuss the security benefits for implementing zero-trust in enterprise systems - is this more necessary than ever considering the rise in fraudulent activity and phishing attacks?

Moderator: Megan Shamas, Independent