The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Justice Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration in an effort to compel the agencies to hand over information about their use of facial recognition technology. The information was first requested in a Freedom of Information Act filing submitted in January of this…
BIO-key has long been one of the most prominent providers of biometric authentication solutions for the enterprise. Specializing in compact fingerprint reader solutions that can be plugged into any computer or other device with a USB port, and offering sophisticated identity software to support large-scale deployments, BIO-key operates across a wide range of industries and…
The Trump administration has proposed a new rule allowing US border authorities to collect DNA samples from any immigrant “detained under the authority of the United States”. This information would be shared with the FBI for inclusion in a larger criminal database. While border officials are already allowed to perform rapid DNA testing to help…
The FBI made headlines this week with a Private Industry Notice warning partners in the private sector about sophisticated hacks of MFA security systems, and BIO-key is celebrating the Bureau’s recommendations regarding biometric security. The FBI’s alarm over the issue appears to stem from hacking incidents cited in the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. These…
“Testifying at this week’s congressional hearing, an FBI representative asserted that the organization is committed to the protection of citizen’s privacy and civil liberties…” The FBI’s collection of citizens’ face images appears to have expanded considerably since a 2016 report from the Government Accountability Office exposed its secret Facial Analysis, Comparison, and Evaluation, or “FACE”,…
Fingerprint recognition technology has helped to exonerate a man wrongly convicted of rape and assault, leading to his freedom after 36 years in prison. The man, Archie Williams, had always insisted he was innocent of the crime, which was committed in a Baton Rouge home in December of 1982. Though there were fingerprints discovered at…
An agreement to facilitate the sharing of biometric data between police authorities in Japan and the US has taken effect, The Japan Times reports. The deal concerns Japan’s National Policy Agency and America’s FBI and Department of Homeland Security. The countries first came to the agreement in 2014. While there were already previous agreements in…
Ohio’s Richland County has become the first in the state to see police use iris recognition for the identification of offenders. Applied by the county Sheriff’s Office, the technology is being used to identify individuals who have been arrested and added to local and national databases. It was delivered by BI2 Technologies, which is also…
Biometric technology has advanced by leaps and bounds in recent years, and most of the credit tends to go to the private sector. Rightly so: One needs only to look at Apple’s new Face ID facial recognition system or Princeton Identity’s iris scanning technology to see the impressive results of private sector innovation. But the…
InCadence Strategic Solutions‘ Ares mobile biometrics software is now officially on the FBI Certified Products List, the company has announced. The app is designed to operate in conjunction with InCadence fingerprint scanners, which can be plugged into Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets. And the software is designed to connect with county and state fingerprint databases,…
The Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Facebook, and Microsoft together made unlikely partners in a recent joint briefing to the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors. The briefing revolved around the efforts taken by these organizations to prevent the kind of meddling seen…
“Through working with forensic experts on leading edge techniques and approaches, IDEMIA’s latent print examination discipline has resulted in our latest compact and convenient offering, IDEMIA Case AFIS.” – Donnie Scott, Senior Vice President, Public Security for North America, IDEMIA IDEMIA has announced a new Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) aimed specifically at forensic investigators dealing…
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers are working on a new approach to DNA matching that could enhance the capabilities of forensic investigators. Jointly funded by NIST and the FBI, the research is aimed at moving beyond DNA profiling based on short tandem repeats, or STRs. This refers to a practice in which analysts…
“Our iCAM R100 cameras add a valuable dimension to the Fed Submit kiosks. The Mentalix solution will make it easier – and faster – for local officials to know who is being booked and released from their facilities.” – Mohammed Murad, Vice President, Global Business Development and Sales, Iris ID Iris ID is poised to play…
The FBI has followed through on its plan to exempt its Next Generation Identification system from the Privacy Act. Effective August 31st, 2017, the FBI is no longer bound by the requirement to acknowledge whether it is holding an individual’s biometric records. The NGI system is widely used by law enforcement and security authorities to…
“…in cases in which there is a potential prison sentence of a year or more, authorities will have permission to access the fingerprint databases for criminal matches, with Sweden’s containing about 165,000 such records, and the FBI in possession of about 100 million.” Police authorities in the US and Sweden will soon be able to…
The FBI has announced that with the help of biometric identification technology, it has arrested a fugitive who has been on the run for 17 years, reports Ars Technica. The fugitive was suspected of being the culprit in a child abduction and molestation case in Indiana back in February, 2000. At the time, the suspect…
Law enforcement authorities’ use of facial recognition technology is putting half of Americans into a “perpetual lineup” of potential criminals, according to a new study from Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology. The study suggests that excessive use of the technology is violating numerous Americans’ civil rights. It’s the product of a year-long investigation based…
The law enforcement biometrics market is large and only growing in scope when it comes to areas of application. Advances in connectivity, mobility, secure cloud technology, middleware and of course biometric capture technology are leading to massive innovations for government agencies concerned with justice. Wearable tech, connected cars and more are all on their way to…