Biometrics

U.K. joins European fingerprint database
Home Office joins Eurodac fingerprint database, which collects the fingerprints of asylum seekers and some illegal entrants to the European Union; Eurodac consists of a Central Unit within the European Commission, equipped with a computerized central database for comparing fingerprints, and a system for electronic data transmission between EU countries and the database
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Obama pushing for Internet ID for Americans
The Obama administration is currently drafting what it is calling the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, which will give the Commerce Department the authority over a forthcoming cybersecurity effort to create an Internet ID for Americans
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Portable device helps officers ID uncooperative suspects
A portable fingerprint scanner helps police in a Florida town to identify people who refuse to identify themselves; the portable device searches the database of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which has more than 5.5 million criminal records; it also crosschecks a FBI database of wanted persons, sex offender registry and known or suspected terrorists
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Face recognition on the go
New mobile phone software recognizes friends in real time; the smart phone’s camera picks out faces in the crowd and tags them with names — so that their latest entries in Facebook, LinkedIn, or tweet appears on the smart phone’s screen
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Sector Report for Tuesday, 4 January 2011: Authentication / Biometrics
This report contains the following stories.
* Hoyos shows cheap, dollar bill-size iris scanner

* Voice biometrics company Persay sold for $6.7 million

* Biometrics goes mainstream -- and changes the way we live

* Biometric technologies save lives in the field

* Aussies mull use of biometrics for gambling machines
Plus 2 additional stories
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Hoyos shows cheap, dollar bill-size iris scanner
Hoyos shows a small iris scanner which will allow scanning on the go; at just 5.5 inches wide, 4 inches tall, and 3 inches deep, the company’s latest iris scanner is not only a quarter of the size of the device’s previous iteration, the EyeSwipe Mini, but a quarter of its cost: the unit’s price is just $1,499
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Voice biometrics company Persay sold for $6.7 million
Persay, which was spun off from Comverse Technology Inc. subsidiary Verint Systems Inc. in 2000, raised $10.4 million in four financing rounds; the sale price is lower than the amount invested in the company
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Biometrics goes mainstream -- and changes the way we live
Biometrics will begin reaching a mainstream audience, changing the way we live; one change: we will see the beginning of the end of the wallet as it begins to move into our smart phones in ways that make it clear what is happening to the common observer
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Biometric technologies save lives in the field
This is not your father’s military: Within minutes of knocking down the door of a suspected bomb maker in the Middle East, U.S. troops can fingerprint everyone they find inside, send scans across a satellite link, and find out if the subjects are suspected terrorists
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Aussies mull use of biometrics for gambling machines
The Australian government wants to keep an eye on who uses poker and gambling machines installed in pubs, clubs, and casinos; many see biometrics as a solution — but agree that the Australian Privacy Act has to be modified, and standards set, to make sure the biometric information collected is not misused; there are worries about users stealing and reusing fingerprints from the readers, thus allowing gamblers to sign in as another, and bypass the financial controls
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Arizona County to fingerprint employees with access to sensitive facilities
Pima County, Arizona, is moving to fingerprint more employees who work with kids and populations who need special assistance, who deal with sensitive data, or who have access to critical infrastructure facilities such as wastewater treatment plants; “We don’t want guys with criminal backgrounds knowing how our radio system is constructed. The same with wastewater, which could be compromised,” John Moffatt, the county’s director of Strategic Technology Planning, said
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Hoyos Corporation (formerly Global Rainmakers): Identifying 50 people per minute
The company says its HBOX device can scan fifty people a minute; it is used by the Philadelphia Port Authority as well as Bank of America at lobby entry points; the company made headlines recently with an ambitious city-wide deployment in Leon, Mexico
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Sector Report for Tuesday, 21 December 2010: Authentication / Biometrics
This report contains the following stories.
* Adding biometrics to E-Verify would reduce illegal immigration

* Ivrnet acquires Diaphonics's speech recognition software

* Study projects continued fingerprint domination of biometric market

* Will facial recognition biometrics come of age in 2011?

* Rhode Island prison deploys new inmate eye scanners
Plus 2 additional stories
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Adding biometrics to E-Verify would reduce illegal immigration
A new white paper argues that adding biometric technology to E-Verify would bolster DHS’s legal employment verification system; the paper author, former senior FBI official, says that better verification of employment credentials would significantly reduce the flow of illegal immigrants because it will make that much harder for illegals to find a job
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Study projects continued fingerprint domination of biometric market
New report from RNCOS projects that automated fingerprint identification systems (AFIS) will hold a 35 percent share of the global biometric market, the largest share for any biometrics, by the end of 2010
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