Malaysia’s National Registration Department (JPN) is looking to implement a biometric registration system for all official identifying documents in an attempt to boost national security. According to Rusline Jusoh, director-general of national registration, the documents involved in the effort will include citizenship, marriage, birth and adoption certificates, none of which currently have any biometric identification…
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency — known as Frontex — has announced that it will be providing the European Commission with its expertise in the areas of research and innovation to assist in the development of state of the art security-focused technology for the border and coast guards. The partnership between Frontex and…
Datasonic will be outfitting the Malaysian Immigration Department with 16 biometric e-gates after securing a new contract with the country’s Home Affairs Ministry. The one-year contract is worth 6.97 Ringgit (approximately $1.7 million USD), and will go into effect on February 15. The biometric e-gates will be placed at the border between Malaysia and Singapore,…
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated some of its policies relating to the collection of biometric information. The organization notes that it requires biometric data from those submitting formal immigration requests, and that it then uses that biometric information to carry out background checks and for basic identity verification. The new policy guidelines…
Pakistan Prime Minster, Imran Khan, announced the latest addition to his national anti-poverty program — known as Ehsaas Kafaalat — which will see seven million women suffering from poverty receive a biometric money transfer of 2000 Pakistani rupees (approximately $13) each. As a part of this latest initiative, each woman would also receive a bank…
A new nation-wide biometric identification program in Kenya was suspended by the country’s high court until new laws are enacted that protect the data collected and prevent discrimination against minorities. In a 500-page report to be released this week, the court’s three-judge panel announced that it is suspending the biometric ID program until the government…
St. Kitts and Nevis is making a biometric security check a mandatory part of the immigration process for anyone looking to gain Citizenship by Investment (CBI). The country’s CBI program has been in place since 1984, and allows people to gain St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship with a $150,000 (or more) contribution to the country’s Sustainable…
British privacy advocates are once again calling for greater oversight after exposing the South Yorkshire Police’s involvement in a 2018 facial recognition trial program at the Meadowhall Shopping Center in Sheffield, England. During the trial, the Police supplied British Land, the owners of the shopping center, with photographs of three serious offenders and one missing…
A former CBP executive is Daon‘s new VP of Emerging Markets, the company has announced. Ari Schuler joins the company from a position as the Director of the US Customs and Border Protection agency’s Innovation Team, which sought to leverage technology development practices from Silicon Valley to bring new solutions into the CBP’s operations. This…
Biometric technology company GenKey has announced a partnership with the World Bank and the Government of Niger to set up a nationwide biometric registration system for all of Niger’s civil servants. With its primary goal being to create a better way to help manage the careers of those registered, the system will also include students…
Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) has released a statement saying the implementation of a new biometric voter management system (BVMS) could save the country millions of dollars when compared to upgrading the current system. Dr. Yaw Ofori-Adjei, the IT consultant to the EC, said the cost of maintaining the country’s old biometric system was $74.36 million,…
The Indian state of Andhra Pradesh will be receiving a substantial number of fingerprint readers from NEXT Biometrics. Andhra Pradesh plans to use NEXT’s Aadhaar-certified readers to facilitate the distribution of government services and improve the living standards for people in rural areas as part of the state’s Navarathnalu program. The full order is worth…
The Cambridge City Council has unanimously voted to ban the public use of facial recognition technology. The decision makes Cambridge the fourth (and largest) Massachusetts community to issue such a ban, following similar initiatives in Somerville, Brookline, and Northampton. The legislation specifically bars the deliberate use of facial recognition (and any information gathered through facial…
“Aadhaar is the world’s most ambitious civil biometric identity program. Indian citizens are assigned an Aadhaar number connected to biometric registration including fingerprint, iris, and face biometrics…” Government officials from Afghanistan are exploring the development of a national ID program similar to India’s biometric Aadhaar system, suggest recent collaborative efforts conducted between the two countries.…
A study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released last Thursday shows that many of the facial recognition algorithms used today misidentify people of color far more often than middle-aged white men. The study tested roughly 18 million photos of more than 8 million people taken from databases run by the State…
ImageWare has joined forces with the Laxton Group to provide law enforcement agencies with better biometric identity tech for use in the field. To that end, Laxton will integrate ImageWare’s biometric software into its line of rugged Chameleon devices in addition to becoming an approved ImageWare reseller. Laxton’s Chameleon hardware allows law enforcement officers to…
BIO-key is once again providing biometric technology to help secure the elections process in the state of Florida. This time around, the Supervisor of Elections in Florida’s Orange County will be using biometric authentication for any employees that need to gain access to sensitive voter data and election files. Orange County is the fifth largest…
The town of Brookline, Massachusetts, has officially moved forward with its facial recognition ban. The proposed ban was first tabled back in August with the blessing of Brookline State Senator Cynthia Creem. The new law bars the government’s use of facial recognition technology for surveillance and other purposes. It passed with an overwhelming 179 votes…
FindBiometrics’ annual Year in Review survey asks our industry a number of compelling questions, but one of the most interesting of them in 2019 is surely the matter of whether we are comfortable with how our governments are using biometric technology. This issue exploded into the spotlight last year, thanks in large part to the…