An HS Daily Wire conversation with Robert Horton of Motorola

fingerprints taken, enrolled, and checked for duplicate entry. California has saved its taxpayers millions of dollars by finding and weeding out people collecting under multiple names. Some of them were picking up multiple welfare checks under different aliases prior to the biometric duplicate enrollment checking.” Only four states currently use biometrics to monitor their welfare fraud programs, but this application would seem poised to take off because of the ease with which driver’s licenses are obtained under multiple names. A major factor in welfare fraud, this is an area in which verification technology could pay very large dividends.

When European Union member states began BIODEV II pilots for the integration of fingerprint technology into travel visas and passports, Motorola provided the governments of the United Kingdom, Spain, Austria, Luxembourg, and Portugal with the biometric enrollment stations (in remote embassies), the biometric verification stations (in airports), and the biometric AFIS matching system (at the member states’ central sites). In Robert Horton’s view, these new fingerprint-based visas are fast becoming the first line of defense against terrorism and illegal immigration. By establishing people’s identities beyond any doubt before they enter, governments can thereby hope to stamp out multiple applications and identity fraud, ensuring entry only to those who are authorized. “Biometric technology is transforming the way governments protect their borders,” Horton said. “Through projects like BIODEV II, governments are creating a double ring of security — identifying individuals before they travel with a biometric visa, then verifying it at the border.” The BIODEV II projects were funded by the European Commission with the aim of developing an end-to-end visa system for the collection of biometrics during the visa application process and verifying this information at the border when the person enters the EU country. On the basis of the results of BIODEV II, all thirty EU member states are expected to procure and deploy similar systems before the 2009 government mandated deadline. Improved identity assurance around visas is anticipated to help streamline the cost of processing visa applications, primarily by reducing fraudulent applications.

Horton was asked to say something about each of two other Motorola featured products: the Mobile AFIS wireless solution for remote access to fingerprints, facial, images, and other critical information, and the LiveScan Station 4000 for live capture of biometrics and descriptive data. “Livescan is a software application with several different form factors,” said Horton. “The ruggedized one shown on