Scope & Challenges

 

Today's world offers a myriad of new opportunities. However, these opportunities can be used by numerous fraudsters, smugglers, and intruders.

 

Civil identification procedures can be used to handle the following:

 

• Combating illegal migration (including labor migrants);
• Fighting terrorism and crimes related to illegal border crossing, kidnapping, and human trafficking;
• Curbing fraud in e-commerce and mobile commerce applications – identity theft (stealing and/or fraudulent use of legal citizens' rights and privileges on cash management), pyramid schemes and credit card misuse.

 

Law-abiding citizens also require efficient and reliable identification tools for civil applications. They need convenient and secure identity establishment/verification procedures for:

 

• Border control and customs clearance – foreign passports, visas, domestic ID-cards and taxpayer cards;
• Confirmation of special professional status and/or privileges – driver's licenses, seafarer's cards, student cards, pension cards, refugee cards, etc.;
• Healthcare and social benefits, insurance, library tickets, etc.;
• Participation in elections, referenda and so on;
• Interaction with public bodies, including e-government services;
• Banking and finance, loyalty programs (frequent traveler programs) and transportation security.

 

Popular Technologies

 

Conventional paper identification documents, such as passports, visas and social security cards, are replaced by or supplemented with solutions based on smart cards, barcodes, e-signature, encryption and RFID. These technologies are used in the most effective way when supplemented with biometrics.

 

Why Biometrics?

 

Biometric features are present in all people; for many social and demographic groups (children, pensioners, partially sighted, handicapped and illiterate persons); biometrics is also the major or even the only way to establish/verify one's identity.

 

For example, identification by fingerprints, 3D face images, and the iris is extensively used to search for kidnapped and missing children. In some countries, ATMs are equipped with biometric scanners to service illiterate people.

 

BioLink AMIS, an automated multi-biometric information system, is well suited to perform civil identification functions. Due to the support for diverse biometric identifiers, high scalability and performance, and the best deployment options, BioLink AMIS is able to carry out the following functions:

 

• Reliable identity verification based on identification of humans by one or several biometric credentials or any combination of them;
• Prompt search of identification data, such as a person's full name, date and place of birth, etc. using one or several biometric credentials;
• Identification of voters, users of social and healthcare services and other population groups;
• Efficient customs clearance and immigration control, convenient servicing of passengers in airports and other transportation facilities.

 

BioLink AMIS is especially useful for its fast and accurate biometric identification features and reliable data protection options.

 

International and Domestic Identification Programs

 

BioLink AMIS fully complies with all internationally accepted, domestic and industry standards for biometric identification solutions and biometrically-enhanced identifying documents, as well as the mandatory recommendations of international and governmental bodies worldwide.

 

Such organizations, governmental bodies and initiatives include the following:

 

• The United Nations (UN, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) the International Standards Organization (ISO) – these organizations govern the personalization and issuance of machine-readable travel documents; by the year 2010, such documents should be issued globally to all citizens that are crossing their country's borders;
• The Schengen zone countries and other EU member states – EURODAC (an EU-wide fingerprint database for the comparison of fingerprints of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants), a biometrically-enabled visa system for non-EU citizens, and a biometric visa issuance system for foreigners arriving in Great Britain;
• Great Britain, Portugal, Spain – biometrically-enabled domestic passports;
• USA - the US-VISIT program enhances security for US citizens and visitors while facilitating legitimate travel and trade across our borders; the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) requires all government employees and contractors to begin using ID cards based on smart card technology.

 

BioLink civil identification proposals include the following:

 

• BioLink AMIS, an automated multi-biometric information system;
• BioLink U-Match, a fingerprint scanner;
• CrossMatch Verifier, a special fingerprint scanner;
• BioLink U-Match Mobile, a mobile biometric identification terminal;