“Like other recent EU regulations including the GDPR and PSD2 requirements, the proposed regulation could be a boon to the region’s biometrics industry, both by establishing a need for compliance solutions, and by strengthening the ties between biometrics and official documentation.” The European Commission has issued a new set of proposals aimed at bolstering security…
The Unique Identification Authority of India is urgently reminding government service providers that they are obligated to serve citizens even when those citizens aren’t able to present credentials with Aadhaar, the national biometric ID program that the UIDAI administrates. In a public statement, the UIDAI says it has taken note of “media reports that some…
HID Global is lending a hand in the digital transformation of Tanzania’s citizen ID and border control programs. The company has revealed that it is the primary supplier of the country’s new electronic passports. The announcement comes in the same week as the news that Vision-Box biometric border screening technology is now being used at…
“The new citizen ID cards feature both embedded chip technology and biometric support, and are expected to be issued to 16 million citizens this month.” Entrust Datacard is helping the government of Ghana to roll out its first biometric electronic ID cards for citizens. The company has been working with domestic partner Identity Management Systems…
With the nationwide launch of a new biometric driver’s license program complete, the Philippines’ Land Transport Office is now issuing half a million such ID documents per month. The project was first unveiled three months ago, when Germany-based Dermalog announced that it had been selected to provide the technology for the program. Each document features…
A national ID program similar to India’s biometric Aadhaar program may be starting to take shape in the Philippines. The idea behind such a program first emerged in the country this past summer, when the Department of Finance set aside 2 billion PHP for a national ID program incorporating biometric data, a program that was…
NEXT Biometrics is celebrating a major milestone with its announcement this week that it has now shipped three million fingerprint sensors in total. In a statement, NEXT CEO Ritu Favre said the achievement helps to demonstrate “NEXT’s ability to mass produce high quality, mass market robust sensors at what has become very high yield rates.”…
The Colombian government has contracted IDEMIA to upgrade its civil identity program, the latter has announced. It’s a continuation of a longstanding relationship. In a statement announcing the new contract with the National Civil Registry of Colombia (Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil de Colombia, or RNEC), IDEMIA asserted that it “has worked with the RNEC…
The Maldives government has just introduced a pioneering new biometric citizen ID card built on Dermalog technology. The new Passport Card’s name is somewhat misleading. While the card does indeed act as an electronic passport, it’s also a driver’s license, a health card, an insurance document, and a payment card, complete with Mastercard support enabling…
All through September FindBiometrics placed a featured focus on government applications in biometrics. For the last four weeks we brought you live event coverage, interviews, featured articles, industry news and an expert webinar featuring the leading minds in government biometrics. Take a look back on the highlights of Government Applications Month: Where To Start Government…
All over the world national governments are turning to biometrics for civil ID. Successful large scale implementations of biometrics-based national ID are emboldening countries – from the Philippines to France – to register their citizens for reasons as far ranging as naked payments and financial inclusion, to digital democracy and national security. This week, for…
Gemalto‘s ePassport technologies are now being used in more than 30 countries, the company has announced. While Gemalto’s most recent ePassport project was announced for East Timor in June, in a statement announcing the breadth of the ePassport solutions’ reach, Gemalto Government Business Unit ID Document Solutions SVP Youzec Kurp highlighted “landmark projects in Algeria,…
September is Government Applications Month at FindBiometrics, during which we are placing a featured focus on the identity management and strong authentication technologies that keep modern society secure, convenient, and safe. From military ID and physical access control, to border security, law enforcement and next-gen voting, biometric technology has become a key component of the…
India’s Supreme Court has ruled that privacy is a fundamental right of Indian citizens. The decision was made unanimously by a nine-person bench of judges. The ruling could substantially impact Aadhaar, India’s national biometric ID program, but it isn’t yet clear how. In hearings ahead of the ruling, some Supreme Court judges hinted that privacy…
An IT expert with the OPEC Fund for International Development has become the latest official to decry duplication and overlap in Nigerian authorities’ collection of citizens’ biometric data, reports The Guardian. Speaking at a press conference, the official, Jacob Edo, said that Nigeria’s federal government could be losing as much as $2 billion annually due…
India’s banks are now working to ensure compliance with a new regulation requiring bank accounts to be linked to fingerprint biometrics registered through Aadhaar, the country’s national biometric ID program. As The Hindu reports, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which administrates Aadhaar, has set a deadline for December 31st, 2017, following an amendment…
A Hindu organization called the Hindu Utsav Samiti is urging the Indian government to use its national biometric ID program to ensure that only Hindus are allowed into traditional religious dance ceremonies called ‘garbas’. Speaking to the Indian Express, the president of the 6,000-member HUS, Kailash Begwani, claimed that Muslim men infiltrate the events to “entice”…
Government authorities in India are preparing to link Aadhaar, the country’s national biometric ID program, to stock market investments, according to new reports. It’s another facet of the central government’s attempt to use Aadhaar to curb fraud, with the idea in this case being that Aadhaar authentication for investors could help to prevent money laundering…
India’s national biometric ID program will soon extend from cradle to grave, with the country’s Home Ministry having just announced that effective October 1st, deaths must be registered using the Aadhaar numbers of the deceased. In other words, anyone trying to obtain a death certificate must identify the deceased using Aadhaar. If they don’t have…