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NEWS/COMMENT

Biometric Technology Today May 2011

...Continued from page 3Noble suggested it would be a natural exten-

sion of screening travellers to assist member countries in determining whether bearers of a globally verified identity card were in possession of a valid identity document or are wanted inter-nationally for arrest via INTERPOL at the time that they applied for a work or residence permit.

Issuing migrant workers with e-ID cards in a globally verifiable format could be incentivised by enabling cardholders to be eligible for elec-tronic remittance schemes, Noble says.

Fingerprint hitches in two European countries

As the EU considers reintroducing border controls in limited circum-

stances to address migration, biometric systems are coming under pressure. In the Netherlands the collection of pass-port fingerprint data has been stopped and fingerprints already collected by local councils for a planned national database will be erased, following a loss of confidence in the accuracy of fingerprint biometrics.

According to local reports, Dutch minister of safety and justice Piet Hein Donner told Parliament that there are too many technical uncertainties involved in the storage process that could produce errors. Around six million sets of fingerprints will be affected. Dutch citizens will continue to submit a set of fingerprints when they apply for a new biometric passport.

Separately the Czech Interior Ministry will not introduce the duty of biometric data, including fingerprints, in residence permits for foreigners from non-EU countries over technical prob-lems with the new system, according to Prague Monitor. Originally the measure was to take effect in May. Residence permit cards without biometric data, valid for six months, will be issued.

Precise Biometrics offers embedded verification

Precise Biometrics has launched Precise BioMatch Embedded, a soft-

ware product that enables hardware companies to integrate fingerprint verification in their products.

The main obstacle for integrating fingerprint recognition on a hardware platform has been related to the complex design cycle, Precise Biometrics believes, which impedes a quick time to market. This modular software is intended to reduce time spent on integration significantly, allowing the manufacturer to launch a product with a much shorter design and test cycle time

“We see great opportunities for biometric embedded solutions in many different types of products such as computers, POS terminals and mobile handheld units,” says Thomas Marschall, CEO at Precise Biometrics.

DSC attracts funding to boost long-range 3D facial recognition

Digital Signal Corporation (DSC), supplier of three dimensional (3D)

long-range facial recognition solutions for government and commercial cli-ents, has won $15m in financing.

Digital Signal’s 3D facial recognition identi-fies and monitors moving non co-operative subjects at long range. The solutions may be used to detect criminal and or terrorist activity,

identify important customers, friendly soldiers, or frequent travellers. The capital raised ena-bles DSC to build its infrastructure, including manufacturing, to meet market demands.

Columbia Capital led the financing round with new investors City Light Capital and SilverHaze Partners. Early investors Novak Biddle Venture Partners and Paladin Capital Group also participated.

BIO-key IDs blood donors with smart-phone finger touch

BIO-key’s Tru-Donor ID uses finger biometrics for identifying donors

in any venue including remote blood drives, using mobile devices such as smartphones, equipped with finger biometric capability.

BIO-key is now supporting The Indiana Blood Center, The Oklahoma Blood Institute and ITxM, the third largest blood transfusion facility in the US. BIO-key is providing each facility with instant search and positive ID for donors using a touch of their finger. Duplicate donor enrolments are detected in real time.

Confidence drives emerg-ing technologies and mar-kets as surely as technolog-ical advances. It has been a shaky few weeks for the biometrics sector, affected

by a number of knocks to confidence.As the EU considers reintroducing border

controls, this would appear to be a potential opportunity to drive biometric e-id and border control systems. Yet in The Netherlands the collection of passport fingerprint data has been stopped and fingerprints collected by local councils for a planned national database will be erased, following a loss of confidence in the accuracy of fingerprint biometrics. Dutch minister Piet Hein Donner told Parliament that there are too many technical uncertainties with the systems.

The Czech Republic too has backtracked on incorporating biometric data, including fingerprints, in residence permits for foreigners from non-EU countries because of technical problems with the new system, according to local reports.

In Australia, in an attempt to assess the vulnerabilities in biometric systems

the Biometrics Institute has developed a framework for vulnerability assessment, to give scientifically credible results for the likelihood of an attack on face, finger, voice and iris biometrics succeeding in commercial systems (see article page 5).

The findings from many of these studies are subject to publication restrictions for security reasons but there is no doubt that spoofing systems using anything from silicone rubber fake fingertips to contact lenses is a threat. The Biometrics Institute hopes its research will spur developments in techniques and procedures that can be used to mitigate biometric vulnerabilities and raise confidence.

Confidence in biometric technologies has surely been given a massive boost though, with the high profile use of biometrics for the identification of Osama bin Laden by US special forces. Full specifics of the biometrics used may never be revealed but widespread reports suggest facial recognition systems were one of a number of methods employed to ensure a positive identification of bin Laden.

Tracey Caldwell

COMMENT

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