Biometrics

BIO-Key selected for Oklahoma HMO access control
Company teams up with NextGenID to update identification systems at fifteen medical facilities; deal follows failure to aquire ComnetiX; a good year behind it, BIO-Key is poised for 2007
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Northrop Grumman takes on the biometrics market
With worldwide government spending set to reach $2 billion, it is little wonder that Northrop wants a taste; company opened the Center for Smart Study Solutions in 2003, but its greatest successes have come from a $357 million USCIS award to provide biometric services in support of U.S. citizenship applications and green card renewals
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"Whole face" software to improve composite sketches of criminals
Iowa State researchers show that allowing the witness to dictate the drawing rarely leads to success, even when using software; new approach presents witnesses with a random selection of faces; through process of elimination, a more accurate rendering is created
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Sagem Défense Sécurité to manage Bahrain's biometric immigration system
French company will fingerprint foreign workers upon arrival; residency and work permit to be contained within a single card; Middle Eastern biometrics market booms as countries look for ways to manage borders and keep track of foreign laborers
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Bioscrypt moves U.S. operations to Canada
The biometrics market is growing, but this does not mean that cost-cutting and belt-tightening measures do not get applied, and Bioscrypt — a company describing itself as providing door-to-desktop solutions — is going through such belt-tightening now
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NYC employees rebel against introduction of biometric monitoring
After six months of agitation, city employees unions persuaded New York City to make the use of biometric “punch clock” voluntary; the unions’ next targets: Voice recognition to track city staffers out in the field, and GPS built into city employees’ cars or cell phones
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L-1 and Identix join Automated Biometric Identification System project
Military has long been interested in providing troops in Iraq with mobile fingerprinting technology; project has been slow, but Northrop Grumman-led project now looks set to take off; Identix to provide FaceIt facial recognition and BioEngine fingerprint technologies
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IBT challenges Boeing's TWIC contract
Integrated Biometric Technology says TSA misread its proposal and asks for a review; appeal unlikely to derail the $70 million Boeing project; Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition comes under criticism
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Mobile fingerprinting comes to Iraq
Ad-hoc efforts by a Marine major embarass the Automated Biometric Identification System by deploying a functional system in thirty days; Cross Match, already known for it military JumpKit, provides the platform; Spirit of America and Goldman Sachs provide the funding
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Raytheon announces new self-authenticating PASS Card
Interesting approach to WHTI program relies on a card with a self-contained fingerprint scanner; travelers press their thumb to the card, which then sends authentication data via RFID to security officials
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Sagem Morpho shows smart contactless CHIUD reader
Federal agencies face a demanding task in implementing the FIPS 201 (PIV) requirements on a limited budget; Sagem Morpho smart terminal will help by wrapping an intelligent authentication layer around the legacy PACS
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Biometric vein readers gain in popularity, but format war looms
In Japan, more and more banks adopt biometric vein reading as the ATM security biometric technology of choice; problem is, there is a format war brewing between the two main developers of the technology; in the U.S., though, it is a question of cost, not techngology standard, which has so far deterred banks from adopting biometric ATMs
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Sarnoff Labs develops covert iris scanner
Checkpoint system inobtrusively scans the irises of approaching pedestrians; infrared strobe light combines with a series of cameras to create a series of images; effect of sunglasses unknown
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Smart Card Alliance publishes best practices for RF industry
Trade association works to distinguish RF from RFID technology; privacy and utility major concerns as well; industry encourages to ensure data protection and communicate more effectively with users
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Smartrac buys a 25 percent stake in Multitape
Purchase gives Dutch company an even firmer grip on the ePassport inlay business; Multitape known for its etching technology
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