Identity, Security, Payments, Biometrics, Smart Cards and Authentication News

Customs in Auckland rethinks self-service kiosks

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The Customs Department in Auckland have shelved plans to trial a self-service kiosk at the airport that would have let frequent fliers re-enter the country without having their passports checked by customs officials. The kiosk was to have been equipped with a scanner capable of checking machine-readable passports, a camera and facial recognition software, and checking passengers’ fingerprints against prints passengers had provided when they enrolled. This change may result in all non-citizens being fingerprinted before or on arrival in New Zealand and passport, customs and biosecurity controls being combined into a single border check. Customs’ emphasis has moved toward the mass processing of e-passports, which contain passengers’ photos on a microchip, and other initiatives to speed up travel.

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Morpho announced that Australia’s Customs and Border Protection Service signed a five year agreement for service of the SmartGate automated biometric security checkpoint solution.

The SmartGate technology operates in real-time utilizing facial recognition hardware that compares the captured data of a traveler to the data contained on the chip embedded on his e-passport. Australian Customs and Border Protection Service says that implementation of Morpho’s solution has proven to be a successful way for Australian Border Protection agents to cope with growing traveler numbers while improving traveler experience at borders and maintaining the high-levels of security they demand.  

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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded Accenture Federal Services a 13-month, $71 million contract to add biometric modalities and other enhancements to the US-VISIT program. US-VISIT uses digital fingerprints and photographs. A pilot program included in the contract will test facial and iris voluntary identification enrollment and matching.

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The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service have deployed HID Global RFID technology as an element of Relegen’s asset intelligence solution - assetDNA - as part of its national arms inventory management system.

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In an effort to streamline passenger security, Jakarta, Indonesia’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport has opened the country’s first biometric immigration gate.

Fingerprint biometric identification provider BIO-key International, Inc. and Oakwell Engineering Limited partnered to create the new gate, designed for use by passengers with electronic passports. Passengers submit their e-passports and authenticate with a fingerprint.

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Biometrics enable expedited border screening

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Global Entry program is expanding enabling enrolled U.S. citizens to enjoy expedited screening when returning from travel abroad to a number of domestic airports. The program also makes them eligible to participate in similar programs at foreign airports.

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Global apparel brand GUESS Inc. has implemented the VeriFone GlobalBay retailing solution inside a dozen or more of its U.S. outlets, engaging in-store shoppers with interactive kiosks to enhance the overall shopping experience and generate additional sales.

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