- Email: [email protected]
Passport delay request denied
NEWS
in brief • In a bid to keep up with developments in the industry, the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) New Technologies Working Group (NTWG) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) on new and emerging biometric technologies. NTWG typically issues such a request every three years and it is designed to encourage vendors in the passport/identity field to put forward proposals on new technology that might be of interest to ICAO. Any proposals submitted are reviewed and a small number are invited to give oral presentations – likely to be in Geneva next year. • Precise Biometrics has received two follow-up orders from the US Department of State. Like the initial order, the follow-up orders are part of a project with the objective to increase computer network security throughout the US government agency. The orders were for Precise Biometrics’ combined fingerprint and smart card readers and were received in cooperation with one of Precise Biometrics’ US partners within the information security software segment. • The University of Pittsburgh is about to begin a research programme designed to evaluate user acceptance of biometric technology. The study will include a variety of biometric technologies across a range of applications and vertical market solutions and will assess societal and psychological perceptions of biometric technology. Anonymous online surveys of 3000 end users will be performed, each of whom should have been using biometrics regularly for at least six months.
4
(68%) believe that the use of biometrics in office buildings is a justified security measure, while just 39% anticipate staff or customer resistance to the technology. Likewise, relatively few respondents (37%) thought that ‘Big Brother’ style abuse of biometric information was likely – either by companies or government agencies. While the interest is undoubtedly there, the survey also found that fewer than one in five biometric technology deployments are expected to be ready for use within the next 12 months. Concerns over possible technical malfunctions and data security breeches suggest that most deployments will be delayed while new IT systems are developed to protect against such risks. Around half of those polled (51%) said that the risk of crimes, such as electronic ID theft, were a concern for organisations using and storing biometric information. A similar number, 47%, felt that technical malfunctions, such as staff being accidentally locked out of buildings, could be a potential problem area. The study also found that the use of biometrics is supported for a wide range of government and financial applications. In particular, 80% of respondents agreed that it was justified for border control and government building security, respectively, whilst 89% said it was warranted within the security services. Almost as many backed the use of biometrics for credit card validation (74%) and ID cards, including driving licences and proof-of-age cards (70%). The least supported application of the technology was in administering welfare payments, with 53% in favour and 40% against. The survey was conducted across Europe, Middle-East and Africa and a total of 840 anonymous, independently-conducted interviews were completed with corporate IT directors. Contact: Shirley Virando at Hitachi Data Systems, Tel: +44 1753 618682, Email: [email protected]
immigration
Passport delay request denied The European Union (EU) has asked the United States for a new delay to the deadline for the implementation of biometric passports, saying that most of its member states would not be ready in time. The request was given the thumbs down from the USA, however, leaving the potential for millions of European citizens to have to apply for visas when visiting the USA from October next
year. This is on top of the newly-introduced fingerprinting procedures that almost all foreign citizens – including visa waiver participants – must now undergo when entering the United States. Initially, the EU had asked for a two-year delay, a request that was backed by the Bush administration but voted down in Congress. The current deadline gives the 27 countries involved in the USA’s visa waiver programme until 26 October 2005 to start issuing biometric passports. EU home affairs commissioner Antonio Vitorino was quoted at a press conference saying: “We welcome very much the decision of the US congress to postpone the biometric passports from October this year to October next year. We are still pushing ahead, asking our American friends for a new delay.” In a swift response, however, the US Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security Asa Hutchinson said there would be no change in position from the USA. He commented: “For some countries in Europe they can make it, not any problem, but for others it’s a greater challenge…We expect and we are hopeful that Europe can meet the deadline of October 2005…The increased sense of urgency I think will move them forward.”
fingerprint
Lockheed awarded DoD contract Lockheed Martin has won a contract to develop the US Department of Defense’s (DoD) new Automated Biometric Identification System database that will consolidate, store, and search fingerprint data collected worldwide by the department. This new system design will be based on the USA’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), which Lockheed Martin developed and now maintains for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (Today the IAFIS biometric database is the largest of its type in the world, providing its users fingerprint and criminal history data on more than 47 million subjects. It also provides law enforcement officers an electronic response to criminal ten-print fingerprint submissions within two hours.) The contract includes the acquisition, delivery, installation, integration and support for the system. It was awarded as a task order under the US Army’s Information Technology Enterprise Solutions (ITES) contracting vehicle.
Biometric Technology Today • November/December 2004
in brief • In a bid to keep up with developments in the industry, the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) New Technologies Working Group (NTWG) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) on new and emerging biometric technologies. NTWG typically issues such a request every three years and it is designed to encourage vendors in the passport/identity field to put forward proposals on new technology that might be of interest to ICAO. Any proposals submitted are reviewed and a small number are invited to give oral presentations – likely to be in Geneva next year. • Precise Biometrics has received two follow-up orders from the US Department of State. Like the initial order, the follow-up orders are part of a project with the objective to increase computer network security throughout the US government agency. The orders were for Precise Biometrics’ combined fingerprint and smart card readers and were received in cooperation with one of Precise Biometrics’ US partners within the information security software segment. • The University of Pittsburgh is about to begin a research programme designed to evaluate user acceptance of biometric technology. The study will include a variety of biometric technologies across a range of applications and vertical market solutions and will assess societal and psychological perceptions of biometric technology. Anonymous online surveys of 3000 end users will be performed, each of whom should have been using biometrics regularly for at least six months.
4
(68%) believe that the use of biometrics in office buildings is a justified security measure, while just 39% anticipate staff or customer resistance to the technology. Likewise, relatively few respondents (37%) thought that ‘Big Brother’ style abuse of biometric information was likely – either by companies or government agencies. While the interest is undoubtedly there, the survey also found that fewer than one in five biometric technology deployments are expected to be ready for use within the next 12 months. Concerns over possible technical malfunctions and data security breeches suggest that most deployments will be delayed while new IT systems are developed to protect against such risks. Around half of those polled (51%) said that the risk of crimes, such as electronic ID theft, were a concern for organisations using and storing biometric information. A similar number, 47%, felt that technical malfunctions, such as staff being accidentally locked out of buildings, could be a potential problem area. The study also found that the use of biometrics is supported for a wide range of government and financial applications. In particular, 80% of respondents agreed that it was justified for border control and government building security, respectively, whilst 89% said it was warranted within the security services. Almost as many backed the use of biometrics for credit card validation (74%) and ID cards, including driving licences and proof-of-age cards (70%). The least supported application of the technology was in administering welfare payments, with 53% in favour and 40% against. The survey was conducted across Europe, Middle-East and Africa and a total of 840 anonymous, independently-conducted interviews were completed with corporate IT directors. Contact: Shirley Virando at Hitachi Data Systems, Tel: +44 1753 618682, Email: [email protected]
immigration
Passport delay request denied The European Union (EU) has asked the United States for a new delay to the deadline for the implementation of biometric passports, saying that most of its member states would not be ready in time. The request was given the thumbs down from the USA, however, leaving the potential for millions of European citizens to have to apply for visas when visiting the USA from October next
year. This is on top of the newly-introduced fingerprinting procedures that almost all foreign citizens – including visa waiver participants – must now undergo when entering the United States. Initially, the EU had asked for a two-year delay, a request that was backed by the Bush administration but voted down in Congress. The current deadline gives the 27 countries involved in the USA’s visa waiver programme until 26 October 2005 to start issuing biometric passports. EU home affairs commissioner Antonio Vitorino was quoted at a press conference saying: “We welcome very much the decision of the US congress to postpone the biometric passports from October this year to October next year. We are still pushing ahead, asking our American friends for a new delay.” In a swift response, however, the US Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security Asa Hutchinson said there would be no change in position from the USA. He commented: “For some countries in Europe they can make it, not any problem, but for others it’s a greater challenge…We expect and we are hopeful that Europe can meet the deadline of October 2005…The increased sense of urgency I think will move them forward.”
fingerprint
Lockheed awarded DoD contract Lockheed Martin has won a contract to develop the US Department of Defense’s (DoD) new Automated Biometric Identification System database that will consolidate, store, and search fingerprint data collected worldwide by the department. This new system design will be based on the USA’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), which Lockheed Martin developed and now maintains for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (Today the IAFIS biometric database is the largest of its type in the world, providing its users fingerprint and criminal history data on more than 47 million subjects. It also provides law enforcement officers an electronic response to criminal ten-print fingerprint submissions within two hours.) The contract includes the acquisition, delivery, installation, integration and support for the system. It was awarded as a task order under the US Army’s Information Technology Enterprise Solutions (ITES) contracting vehicle.
Biometric Technology Today • November/December 2004