Federal money for identity programs boost biometrics market

a new administration takes over the White House in 2009 and analyzes the existing programs. He projects that spending on federal identity programs will grow to $2.2 billion through 2012. Strohm writes that comparative estimates are difficult to find. The International Biometric Group (IBG), for example, projects that the market for biometrics alone will reach $3.7 billion in 2012 for law enforcement, military, and other federal government programs. “In my opinion, it seems like the federal government is really driving the technology development in this industry and investment in this industry,” said Peter Cheesman, marketing director for the IBG. He says that major spending programs include Justice’s new identification system, US VISIT, and the Defense Department’s biometrics operations and support services program. The Pentagon is now accepting bids for its biometrics program, and has hired Cogent to help evaluate them. “It seems, based on recent contracts,” Cheesman said, “this technology is only going to continue to grow, as well as the market.” Industry officials are also closely watching whether the Real ID program will include a biometric component. Chertoff said that states are free to require fingerprints for the new licenses. “If biometrics does in fact become a part of that program, you’re going to see that become a huge driver for the industry,” Cheesman said. Moreover, if Congress passes comprehensive immigration reform legislation, industry and company officials expect the government to use biometrics to verify the identity of temporary migrant workers. “Without a biometrics component, I think you could make the argument that these [guest-worker] programs wouldn’t work,” Dezenski said.

The industry’s optimism is countered, however, by critics who believe that the government and the industry are rushing to implement security programs without enough public debate over policies and spending. And the push-back has created strange bedfellows, aligning the Cato Institute’s Harper with such groups as the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, and the American Civil Liberties Union. The Center for American Progress issued a report in early June on an emerging “ID divide” that leaves those without proper identification unable to participate in the most basic functions of U.S. society. “Although Americans of all backgrounds may find themselves on the wrong side of the ID divide, there are disproportionate effects on the poor, the young, the disabled, the less-educated, communities of color, and citizens born outside of the United States,” the report concluded. For the foreseeable future, at least, the odd bedfellows will work together. Says Harper, “You’ll know your privacy and liberties are relatively secure when I get back to fighting with the ACLU.”

For more the major government contractors in the biometric market, see “The big biometric hitters” elsewhere in this issue.