Biometrics

Arizona to offer WHTI- and Real ID-compliant driver's license
Arizona joins three other border states — Washington, Vermont, and New York — offering enhanced driver’s licenses to its citizens
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Datastrip shows new, versatile identity documents reader
More and more government agencies and private companies turn to biometric identity cards for secure authentication; there is a need for reliable readers to read these cards, and Datastrip offers one
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Australian researcher improves iris scan technology
There is one problem facing iris scan technology: Changes in lighting conditions change a person’s pupil size and distort the iris pattern; the solution: Using a high-speed camera which could capture up to 1,200 images per second allows for tracking the iris surface’s movements — and studies show that this very iris surface movement varies from one individual to another
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Biometric comapnies try to wed security with customers' convenience
Biometrics should take on greater importance in the consumer world to protect against identity theft, but large U.S. financial institutions, for example, must overcome the fear of appearing too intrusive to customers
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HMRC scandal prompts calls for using biometrics to secure data
A U.K. government agency lost discs carrying the personal information of 25 million Britons; voice-recognition specialist says that if we were to rely on biometrics rather than on other means of identifications — such as those on the lost discs — we could make the storing of such information unnecessary
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Fingerprinting to remain dominant biometric technology
Acceptable accuracy, low hardware costs, and wide applicability to different financial applications will drive fingerprinting dominance
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Slow start for TWIC
More than one million workers with escorted access to 361 U.S. ports could register for the security clearance — more than four years after the program was to have started
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Debate ends on using fractal analysis for authenticating art
There was a time when museums and art historians thought that fractal analysis could be used to authenticate works of art; In a symposium tomorrow, scientists and art experts will admit that this cannot be done; some say it is a good thing, too: “I think it is more appealing that Pollock’s work cannot be reduced to a set of numbers with a certain mean and certain standard deviation,” said one researcher
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Is biometrics ready for prime time?
The debate over a national biometric ID in the U.K. intensifies in the wake of revelations that the government has lost discs with the personal records of some 25 million Britons
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Ten-fingerprint program for visitors to U.S. begins Thursday
Washington’s Dulles Airport on Thursday will begin a new DHS scheme to acquire ten fingerprints from each visitor to the United States; system will be implemented at all land crossings by end of 2008
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DHS faces difficulties in enforcing immigration laws
Congress failed to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill, so states stepped forward to fill the void; the result: 1,400 pieces of immigration-related legislation introduced in state capitols across the country this year, many contradictory
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Biometrics meet mobile phone technology
Indian company develops a remote monitor of access and attendance by combining biometric, RFID, and GSM technologies
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U.S. grants record number of student visas
After a steady, post-9/11 decline in the number of foreign students coming to study in the United States, 2007 marks a turning point: The Department of State has granted of 651,000 student and exchange visitor visas — 10 percent more than in 2006 and 90,000 more than were issued in Fiscal Year 2001
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DHS says its biometric-at-sea trial is a success
Coast Guard completes 12-months trial of technology which captures fingerprints digitally from illegal migrants apprehended at sea; Coast Guard then uses satellite technology to compare the migrant information against US VISIT’s data
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Laser fingerprint scanner does away with dusting
Breakthrough in finger printing: Indian scientists develop a laser-based finger printing device; devices uses optical coherence tomography (OCT), which is often described as an optical version of ultrasound imaging
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