CBP Introduces Facial Comparison Tech to Pedestrian Lanes at Texas Port
Customs and Border Protection the week of Feb. 10 began deploying facial comparison technology to all pedestrian lanes at the Progreso Port of Entry in southern Texas to enhance identity verification for lawful entry into the U.S. CBP says that when a traveler arrives at the pedestrian lanes, he or she will pose for a photo at the primary inspection unit. A CBP officer will review and query the travel document, which will retrieve the traveler’s passport or visa photo from government holdings. The photo of the traveler will automatically be compared to the photo from the travel document in a matter of seconds. U.S. citizens may opt out of having their photos taken and request a manual document check. The facial comparison technology is more than 97 percent accurate, CBP says.
UK Biometric Firm iProov Opens US Headquarters
London-based iProov, a developer and provider of face authentication technology for onboarding, border control and other applications, has opened a North American headquarters near Baltimore, Md. to better serve its growing customer base in North America. The company has also installed an executive team to serve its North American customers, naming Joe Palmer as president of iProov, Inc., and Simon Williamson as vice president of Sales for iProov North America. iProov’s Flashmark technology guarantees liveness and authenticity of an individual using controlled illumination to flash a sequence of colors onto a user’s face in order to authenticate them and allow access to secure services, the company says. Flashmark enables presentation attack detection and face matching, iProov says. The company’s technology is also used in a contactless mobile palm verification solution. iProov’s customers include ING, Rabobank, the U.K. Home Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The new U.S. headquarters is in Catonsville, Md. at the bwtech@UMBC Research and Technology Park.
DHS S&T to Assess TWIC
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate plans to commission an assessment of how effective the transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program is at enhancing security and reducing security risks for regulated maritime facilities and vessels. The study will be performed by the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center, a federally funded research and development center operated by the RAND Corp., that will produce a public report. The effectiveness assessment must be submitted to Congress before the Coast Guard can implement any rule requiring the use of biometric readers for TWIC.
Aware’s Fingerprint Capture Software Deployed at Land Border Crossing
Biometrics software provider Aware Inc. [AWRE] says its U.S. Customs and Border Protection has selected its CaptureSuite solution of fingerprint software development kits for use at U.S. land border crossings. Aware says the suite of three kits apply a variety of fingerprint algorithms to enable rapid, high quality, fingerprint capture and quality assurance independent of the capture device that is used. The company says CBP can rapidly capture 10 prints of each person crossing the border to minimize queues while ensuring optimal quality of captured prints. The deployment is an extension of CaptureSuite which is used by CBP for air entry processing.
Thales Achieves Highest Level International Security Standard for Mobile ID Software
Thales says it is the first company to achieve the highest level of the international security standard ‘Common Criteria’ for their mobile identity software solution. The Gemalto Mobile ID software has demonstrated a level of resistance to the most advanced security penetration tests against mobile applications. Thales says the Common Criteria certifications enable an objective evaluation to validate that a particular product or system satisfies a define level of robustness.