• Researchers advance biometric security

    Researchers have developed a way for security systems to combine different biometric measurements — such as eye color, face shape, or fingerprints — and create a learning system that simulates the brain in making decisions about information from different sources

  • The complexities of the human face: analyzing facial recognition technologies in unconstrained environments

    Chris Archer, the online content editor at IDGA (the Institute for Defense & Government Advancement), talked with Thirimachos Bourlai, research assistant professor at West Virginia University, about facial recognition technologies; the human face has several advantages over other biometric traits: it is non-intrusive, understandable, and can be captured in a covert manner at variable standoff distances; Bourlai examines the various challenges of facial recognition as a biometric technology faces; defines “unconstrained recognition” and how this challenge is being met; he also explores how facial recognition will be used by the military and commercially in the short and long term future

  • Aging process confounds iris recognition biometrics

    It is commonly assumed that biometric template aging does not occur for iris biometrics; there may well be a need to examine this assumption; two University of Notre Dame scientists found that the rate at which a state-of-the-art, commercial iris-matching software system failed to match two images of the same iris — known as the false non-match rate — increased by 153 percent over three years

  • Advanced investigative facial recognition solution for law enforcement

    Animetrics shows ForensicaGPS, a new facial biometric tool for local, state, and federal law enforcement; the company says ForensicaGPS allows law enforcement to identify criminal suspects, even from a low-resolution photo or video surveillance

  • Biometric data collection in U.S. immigrant communities and beyond

    DHS takes approximately 300,000 fingerprints per day from non-U.S. citizens crossing the border into the United States, and it collects biometrics from noncitizens applying for immigration benefits and from immigrants who have been detained; in addition, state and local law enforcement officers regularly collect fingerprints and DNA, as well as face prints and even iris scans

  • Biometrics market set to grow by 21 percent CAGR from 2012 to 2014

    The biometric security market set to grow at a CAGR of around 21 percent during 2012-2014; governments’ growing reliance on biometrics for national security, and efforts by corporations to thwart identity theft, are main growth drivers

  • Aware provides biometrics products for border management systems

    Aware’s software products will be used for biometric enrolment, watch-list checks, verification, and workflow in Europe, the Middle East, and North America

  • Reason-based behavioral recognition system wins award

    A reason-based behavioral recognition system for video surveillance developed by Houston, Texas-based BRS Labs wins an award at London’s Counter Terror Expo

  • Maryland police defy court decision, continue to collect arrestees DNA

    Police departments around Maryland will continue to collect arrestees DNA despite the state top court’s ruling by a five-to-two decision that such collection is a violation of Fourth Amendment rights to privacy

  • Airport racial profiling app unveiled

    The New York-based Sikh Coalition, together with other civil rights organizations, is today unveiling a mobile application which allows users to report instances of racial profiling at airports in real time; users are prompted with some questions geared specifically toward Sikhs, but that the app also allows for accounts of discrimination from members of all communities who feel their rights have been violated

  • Intelligent surveillance to bolster Aussie national security

    Researchers are working on developing smart technology that combines 2D and 3D video images taken from a variety of challenging environments and makes it possible to identify a person without the need to stand face on to a camera

  • Faster iris recognition solutions less accurate than slower ones

    NIST tested iris recognition software from eleven different organizations; the test: identify individuals from a database of eye images taken from more than 2.2 million people; some software solutions were faster than others, and some were more accurate than others (success rates ranged between 90 and 99 percent); typically, the faster solutions were less accurate

  • Advanced technologies shed more light on the killing of Trayvon Martin

    Since only two people know what happened in the confrontation between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, and since one of them is dead, investigators must rely on circumstantial evidence — and on advanced technology; two such technologies — voice biometrics and redigitized imaging — help shed more light on the fateful February night

  • Fingerprints offer a wealth of information

    It has long been well established that fingerprints can be used to identify people or help convict them of crimes, but fingerprints can be used to show that a suspect is a smoker, takes drugs, or has handled explosives, among other things

  • DHS: No extension to next January’s REAL ID deadline

    DHS tells Congress that the department “has no plans to extend” the REAL ID deadline for state compliance, set as 15 January 2013