U.S. government agencies increase use of biometric technology

Published 18 August 2009

The National Institute of Justice is evaluating the use of face recognition technologies to identify suspects and improve security and officer safety; this is but one of many biometric technologies being evaluated by U.S. government agencies

Biometric technology is used to measure and analyze human body characteristics, such as fingerprints, eye retinas, voice and facial patterns, and hand measurements for authentication purposes. Fingerprints, the most pervasive biometric technology, was first used in China during the fourteenth century.

Examiner’s Althea Blackwell highlights a few of the many U.S. government biometric programs being evaluated or used:

 

Biometric Programs

Agency

Biometric Technology 

IDENT-IAFIS

Automated Biometric Identification System and Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice

This program compares ten-print digital fingerscans against a nationwide database which has roughly 10 million prints and stored by the FBI.

NIJ

Face Recognition technologies

National Institute of Justice

National Institute of Justice is evaluating the use of face recognition technologies to identify suspects and improve security and officer safety. 

USPASS

U.S. Passenger Accelerated Service System

U.S. Customs Border and Protection

 

 

This programs reduces immigration inspection processing by combining automation with a hand geometry biometric image to validate the claimed identity of an individual. 

TWIC

Transportation Worker Identification Credential

Transportation Security and Administration U.S. Coast Guard

A tamper-resistant biometric credential for maritime workers requiring unescorted access to secure areas of port facilities, outer continental shelf facilities and vessels. An individual must provide biographic and biometric information such as fingerprints, sit for a digital photograph and successfully pass a security threat assessment conducted by TSA. 

BLADE

Biometrics for Logical Access Development and Execution

The State Department

This program requires a fingerprint from each hand that is then stored on a personal identification verification smart card. Employees use that card to log onto their workstations where they are asked to give a digital fingerprint to verify their identities.