Raytheon announces new self-authenticating PASS Card

Under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), those travelling by land or sea from Mexico or Canada to or from the United States will have to present either a passport or a special fingerprint biometric PASS Card. This plan has not been without criticism, much of it from businessminded folk in all countries who worry that costs and delays crossing borders will cause economic hardship all around. Fortunately, Raytheon has come up with an interesting solution to the latter problem — one that may prove useful in a host of border initiatives other than WHTI. The company’s Personal Authentication Device (PAD) permits passengers to authenticate their own fingerprints as they approach a checkpoint, thereby saving time and increasing border efficiency. As with our previously reported stories on license plate scanning and a method of scanning a pedestrian’s iris from a distance, the effort is part of an ongoing trend towards what we might call “flying biometrics.”

The Raytheon PAD card contains an enrolled fingerprint and an identification number. When the user approaches the border — the system works at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour — he presses his finger onto a small scanning screen on the card itself while at the same time using another finger to activate the card’s internal power supply. (This is intended to prevent digital pickpocketing by limiting the time the card is active.) If the scanned print matches that on file, an RFID signal is sent to border agents who can instantly access the file and prepare for any required follow-up once the traveler reaches the checkpoint. A very simple solution, we think, and as far as we know, entirely unique.

-read more in this company news release