• Immigration control at Welsh ports "risks U.K. security"

    Immigration control at some of Wales’s ports is “limited” and jeopardizing the U.K.’s border security, says a watchdog; Holyhead seaport, for example, has no permanent immigration controls

  • Hand-held scanner checks 100 databases -- in one second

    Army guards at Fort Sam Houston are using a hand-held identity detector that taps information from more than 100 databases — in one second; the manufacturer says that the use of the device has resulted in 60,000 arrests since the start of 2004; Senator Schumer wants TSA to use the device at airports

  • Europe's first finger-vein biometric ATMs installed in Poland

    Poland claims to be the first European country to install finger-vein biometric ATMs; the authentication system developed by Japanese tech giant Hitachi; unlike fingerprints, which leave a trace and can be potentially reproduced, finger veins are impossible to replicate because they are beneath the surface of the skin

  • Florida implements ICE's Secure Communities program

    The United States DHS has deported 30,700 illegal aliens with level 1, 2, or 3 crimes in their past; of these, 1,800 illegal aliens have been removed from Florida; as Florida implements the Secure Communities program, the expectation is that the number of deportees will increase

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  • Omiperception and MaxVision to join forces

    Partnership between two companies will enhance marketing offering; ruggedized portable computer adds facial recognition biometrics to allow law enforcement, first responders to collect and process biometric and other relevant in-the-field information

  • MorphoTrak receives secure driver license contract award from North Carolina

    The $47.5 million contract calls for the company to supply the state with MorphoTrak’s Secure Credentials Center for identity assurance; the company will implement its 3D Photo IDTM technology, which features laser-engraved three dimensional photo-images

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  • Schlage, Solero Systems form technology partnership

    A manufacturer of contactless smart credentials and readers and a developer of identification and access solutions have formed a technology partnership to bring advanced identification and access solutions to customers

  • Puerto Rico overhauls birth-certificate systems; will annul 5 million birth certificates

    More than 40 percent of all passport fraud cases in the United States start with a stolen Puerto Rican birth certificate; identity thieves have targeted Puerto Ricans because Puerto Rican names provide the perfect cover for Hispanic illegal immigrants entering the United States and are worth as much as $6,000 on the black market; the documents are so valuable that drug addicts trade them for a fix; the Puerto Rican government has decided to change all that: current Puerto Rican birth certificates will no longer be valid after 30 September; between now and then, all Puerto Ricans will have to apply for more secure birth documents

  • Obama emphasizes identity management

    The Obama administration is planning to promote identity management throughout the government; Howard Schmidt: “The ability to interact with the government in a very secure manner, where privacy and civil liberties are protected and you can only do that with some of the things you look at from an identity management perspective”

  • Government plans new biometric passport rollout

    The U.K. government is planning to begin issuing new biometric passports in the autumn; the Home Secretary said the government was looking at providing better physical security and stronger electronic security for a new design of passport to be made available from 5 October

  • Could-based voice biometrics e-commerce platform launched

    The industry’s first voice biometrics-driven e-commerce platform launched; the cloud-based service allows retailers instantly to set up and run their online business, processing transactions using voice biometrics to authenticate and authorize their online, and mobile-based electronic payments

  • Fingerprint Security Briefcase keeps papers safe

    Biometrically protected briefcase may be nice to have, but since most business people now carry sensitive information digitally, one observer thinks that a more practical solution a giant USB key

  • Despite warnings, sensitive components of U.S. e-Passport are assembled in Thailand

    Security experts have warned about the security risks for a while now, but a U.S. government contractor is still assembling a key passport component in Thailand; the Government Printing Office (GPO) inspector general has warned the GPO lacks a basic security plan for protecting blank e-Passports from theft by terrorists, foreign spies, or counterfeiters

  • Aviation security milestone: TSA performs 100 percent watch-list matching for domestic flights

    DHS now performs 100 percent watch list matching for domestic flights through TSA’s Secure Flight program; 99 percent of passengers will be cleared by Secure Flight to print boarding passes at home by providing their date of birth, gender and name as it appears on the government ID they plan to use when traveling when booking airline tickets

  • Biometrics and cloud computing

    More and more biometric-enabled identity cards are being issued by governments; taking these cards into the streets and other remote locations will increase the demand for mobile biometric devices; these mobile devices permit a country to take biometric-based critical services directly to citizens, rather than requiring citizens to come to the technology