• NIST test proves the iris recognition is idea for ID verification

    A new NIST report demonstrates that iris recognition algorithms can maintain their accuracy and interoperability with compact images, affirming their potential for large-scale identity management applications such as the federal Personal Identity Verification program, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism

  • FBI says facial recognition not ready for prime time

    An FBI expert said that facial recognition does not figure in the FBI’s biometric strategy; he said facial recognition could have been a killer application — but it cannot; “The algorithms just do not exist to deliver the highly reliable verification required. This is even though the FBI has been evaluating facial recognition technology since 1963,” he said

  • Schools are spearheading the use of biometrics

    Approximately 10 percent of U.K. schools are deploying biometric technologies, according to Alasdair Darroch, director of Biostore

  • Aussie forensic biologist pushing for usage of ear biometrics

    Sydney-based ear biometrics specialist says the ear biometrics, which involves analyzing photographs of ears, is an ideal way to identify people; “It’s practical, it’s fast, it’s cost effective and it’s an alternative method so you don’t have to give up cracking a case or identifying a victim”

  • Fingerprint technology beats world’s toughest tests

    Among the fingerprints most difficult to identify are those of brick-layers, but a new technique developed by University of Warwick researchers did so successfully; the secret: the University of Warwick researchers consider the entire detailed pattern of each print and transform the topological pattern into a standard co-ordinate system

  • U.K. abandons DNA retention project

    At present in England and Wales, DNA is taken from every person arrested; at the last count the National DNA Database contained 986,000 profiles belonging to people never convicted of a crime; the DNA records were supposed to be kept for twelve years; the Home Office says it is now reconsidering this policy

  • U.K. Border Agency reinstates DNA tests, sort of

    Africans who want to immigrate to the U.K. found a relatively easy way to do so: they seek political asylum, saying they come from war-ravaged countries; the U.K. Border Agency wanted to make sure, by checking their DNA, that they come from the war-ravaged countries they claim to come from; scientists criticized the scheme as “naive” and “scientifically flawed,” so the UKBA suspended it — only to reinstate it the next day, partially

  • Biometric security for London 2012 Olympic Games already in place

    The U.K. government’s security preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games start early: Laborers on the site of the Olympic village are subject to rigorous biometric checks; the metropolitan police hints that as we get closer to the games, local residents may be subject to similar measures

  • U.K. Border Agency suspends "flawed" asylum DNA testing

    The Home Office wanted to ascertain the nationality of asylum seekers by testing their DNA; scientists described the idea as “naive and scientifically flawed”; “You’d be better off looking at the color of [asylum seekers’] shoes,” one scientists says; Home Office suspends the plan

  • Passport production brings L-1 $195 million

    The latest in a string of biometric contracts brings the Stamford, Connecticut company $195 million deal to provide the U.S. Department of State with a high-security production system for e-passports

  • Apple offers facial recognition for iPhoto

    Biometric technology is used in security and e-commerce, but it can also be used to shorten searches through large digital photo banks; Apple offers facial recognition for its iPhoto

  • Biometric devices bring in $6.2 million for L-1

    Clients keep buying L-1’s HIIDE device; company on a spree of biometric contracts

  • Algeria delays launch of biometric passports

    Trial runs of the new documents began in August 2009 in the capital city, and all citizens who hold an Algerian passport will have to switch to the biometric version by 2015

  • DHS funds development of a potable DNA-identification kit

    A Virginia firm awarded DHS grant develop a briefcase-size biometrics device that can process DNA samples and determine identity or kinship with an accuracy of 99.99 percent, in under 45 minutes, and at a cost of less than $50

  • Brown 'misled' with ID card claims

    Anti-national ID groups claims U.K. prime minister Groton Brown’s claims at the Labor Party conference that “in the next Parliament there will be no compulsory ID cards for British citizens,” and that “We will reduce the information British citizens have to give for the new biometric passport to no more than that required for today’s passport,” could not be true even if taken literally