UPEK’s TouchChip meets HSPD-12, FIPS-201 standards

Published 2 May 2006

Biometric company offers what more and more companies will have to offer: HSPD-12, FIPS-201 compliant gear

Emeryville, California-based UPEK, a developer of biometric fingerprint security solutions, is showing the industry’s first silicon fingerprint sensor designed to comply with Federal Identification Processing Standard (FIPS) 201 standards. The solution will enable biometric authentication for government programs including Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD-12), Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC), Registered Traveler, and other national ID card programs.

The TouchChip TCS1 fingerprint sensor offers small size and low power consumption, but it meets the image size and quality specified in FIPS 201 and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP800-76. “HSPD-12 and FIPS 201 have had a major impact on the biometric industry,” noted Raj Nanavati, partner at International Biometrics Group (IBG), an industry consulting and integration firm. “It is critical for vendors to understand the specifications set forth in NIST SP800-73 and NIST SP800-76 and to design solutions that meet the evolving government requirements, and we are pleased to see the vendor community addressing this need.”