Biometric devices, identity documents and processes to facilitate travel progress

Biometrics for travel, by land air or sea, is a topic among some of the most widely read stories in the Biometric update during the past week. Idemia has released updates to two of its biometric devices for travel applications, while HID Global and Veridos have each won contracts for identity documents intended for use in travel. As an Entrust executive writes, these documents may soon be used more as ground truth than at checkpoints. Meanwhile, Cyberlink writes about the prospects of consumer comfort with the use of biometrics, and also contributes to facial recognition for a robot for the consumer market.

Top biometric news of the week

The Schengen Information System is up and running, as the biometric and biographical data exchange mechanism for what the EC says will be “the most advanced border management system in the world”. Cyprus is adopting the system, while the UK is issuing an electronic travel authorization using biometrics.

Passports are about to fade away, Identity Verification Director of Business Development and Strategic Alliances Jon Payne writes in a guest post, replaced by digital travel credentials and biometrics. Payne explains how we got here and how new systems can get travelers through the same airport processes in a fraction of the time.

HID Global has won a contract in Bahrain for the end-to-end delivery of biometric passports for an undisclosed sum. Veridos will produce biometric identity cards for Guyana, which are also intended to be used as travel documents, and therefore comply with ICAO standards. In a related development, Veridos also added Java support to its smart card software.

Idemia has launched new versions of a pair of its biometric devices for deployment at airports and other border points. The company says the multimodal OneLook Gen2 offers superior image quality and faster on-the-go capture than the previous version, while the MorphoWave TP expands the contactless fingerprint lineup with an option for simultaneous ten fingerprint capture.

A step was taken toward starting a long-rumored sale process for Idemia, with Goldman Sachs reportedly preparing $2.7 billion in debt financing through high-yield bonds and leveraged loans. Thales joins the group of buyers floated by Apollo Global Management and Brookfield Asset Management.

The IRS is planning to implement the US government’s Login.gov identity verification service for online account access as the April 30 deadline for Americans to file their tax returns approaches. A former UK GDS executive says the struggle with horizontal digital transformation is common for governments in countries without national ID systems.

The facial recognition struggles in New York City are getting worse and worse. MSGE’s denial of entry to some visitors using facial recognition may run afoul of state liquor laws, according to regulators. The city is trying to figure out what businesses are using facial recognition and how. Businesses apparently either aren’t using it widely, or aren’t widely enforcing an ordinance that requires public notice of its use.

CyberLink FaceMe Vice President of Business Development Terry Schulenburg writes in a guest post that the attention-grabbing ChatGPT gives consumers who may be hesitant to trust AI technologies like biometrics a new appreciation for their benefits. Soon, ChatGPT will help people with “mundane, everyday tasks,” Schulenburg writes, and will also support new facial recognition apps.

CyberLink has partnered with robot maker Groove X to develop Lovot, a “companion” for families that can identify them with facial recognition. Lovot’s design uses CyberLink’s tilt-angle recognition capability. Meanwhile, hardware stores in Philadelphia are testing less cuddly robots as parking lot security guards.

An accuracy evaluation of Tech5’s contactless fingerprint technology was developed and conducted by BixeLab, demonstrating its suitability for several applications and room for improvement. Representatives of both organizations also joined Biometric update to talk about the implications of assessment.

Somalia is launching a new national card-based ID program following legislative approval. Biometric ID cards issued by Slovenia and the United Arab Emirates have jointly won a regional award, while misprints and fake ID rings have been reported in Hawaii and Thailand respectively.

Bill Gates supports MOSIP through the foundation he and his ex-wife operate, and attended the group’s facilities in Bangalore to receive a progress update and talk about how digital identity can improve financial inclusion. The discussion covered the ecosystem of biometric systems providers and integrators, as well as the ongoing MOSIPs roadmap.

Cornelius Williams, outgoing global director for child protection at UNICEF, joined the ID16.9 podcast to discuss progress and innovations in issuing legal IDs. Williams explains how some African nations are linking health and education agencies with civil registration authorities to achieve scale registrations efficiently and how governments are learning from each other to achieve identification goals, which have been set up between priorities.

Please let us know about any articles, podcasts or other content we should share with people working in biometrics and the wider digital identity community in the comments below or via social media.