The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) this month awarded IDEMIA a potential $128 million contract to provide the next-generation credential authentication technology (CAT) system that will authenticate a traveler’s government issued identity document at airport security checkpoints and use facial comparison technology to verify that the person presenting a credential is the same individual whose photo is on the document.
TSA said it will purchase more than 1,500 of the CAT2 systems under the contract.
IDEMIA is the incumbent on the CAT program. The system is used by the TSA’s Travel Document Checker to verify the authenticity of a traveler’s identity document such as a driver’s license and to query the agency’s Secure Flight system to check against trusted traveler and watchlists to identify his or her risk level.
The CAT2 system will add the biometric comparison component to the program. TSA has been evaluating CAT2 at some airports.
TSA began soliciting for the CAT2 system last August and said it would award one or more contracts. The more advanced CAT system is one of TSA Administrator David Pekoske’s top acquisition priorities.