• Marines integrate biometrics on battlefield

    The U.S. Marine Corps is beginning to implement biometric technologies to help them identify insurgents on the battlefield; members of the III Marine Expeditionary Force in Japan are undergoing training to learn how to gather biometric data; in particular, troops are looking for fingerprints from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to help capture bomb makers; the prints are stored in a database that will soon be shared with DHS border agents to assist with counter-terrorism efforts within the United States; border agents will be able to determine if people entering the country match any of the insurgents identified abroad

  • FBI upgrades fingerprint system

    The FBI recently upgraded its fingerprint scanning system to include faster and more sophisticated technology; the old system could take as much as two hours to match fingerprints, while the new technology can provide results in ten to fifteen minutes; the new system is also more accurate and comes as part of the FBI’s broader technology initiative, which it calls Next Generation Identification (NGI); the next phase of NGI is set to be completed by 2014 and will incorporate latent palm prints and facial recognition technology

  • Biometrics technology gets below the skin

    Businesses and governments around the world are increasingly turning to sophisticated iris scanning biometrics systems that are more secure than traditional fingerprint based technology; the use of iris scanners is picking up steam, despite the fact that it has not been widely adopted as mainstream biometric identification technology; India and Mexico have adopted iris scanning, while Bank of America and residential communities in Japan and Korea have also installed these scanners

  • Web service launched to expedite biometric ID approval process

    As identifying documents like biometric passports incorporate more sophisticated technology, consumers have been forced to comply with stricter application requirements. To help consumers avoid having their photo rejected on passport and visa applications, BioID, a large European biometric company, has launched Pic4Pass.