• Safran in Talks to acquire most of L-1 Identity Solutions Inc.

    Paris-based Safran SA is exploring the acquisition of Connecticut-based L-1 Identity Solution; L-1 is likely to be split up, with another buyer acquiring a separate unit that sells consulting services to U.S. intelligence agencies; L-1 had a stock market value of about $670 million as of last Thursday; L-1’s CEO, Robert LaPenta, formed the company after serving as president and chief financial officer of L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. from 1997 to 2005; LaPenta helped start L-3 with co-founder Frank Lanza after both men left Lockheed Martin Corp

  • Facial-recognition solution offers surveillance new edge

    When the new facial-recognition solution finds a match in a database for someone who may be on a watch list, the client may be notified in multiple ways, including text message or e-mail alerts; biographical information such as criminal records are added and the images and made available to the client from any Web browser, including Web-ready mobile phones

  • EU biometric passports not that safe, experts say

    The EU’s e-passports were supposed to be fool-proof, even impossible to counterfeit; Europol has warned, though, that despite the biometric changes to passports, counterfeiting still remains a major problem for criminals or others “who are determined to do so,” with the provision of documents for irregular immigrants being the main driver of the activity

  • Here's looking at you: Tokyo digital billboards scan passers-by

    Billboards in Tokyo “look” at passers by, identify their age and gender, and then flash advertisements which are tailored to these people; a consortium of eleven railway companies launched the one-year pilot project last month, and has set up twenty-seven of the high-tech advertising displays in subway commuter stations around Tokyo