Government ID, Smart Cards, Identification and Authentication

Coast Guard takes US VISIT mobile

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The Mona Passage is a strip of ocean between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. It’s a popular point for Dominicans to try and cross to get to the nearby U.S. territory. And now, biometrics, satellites and US VISIT are helping secure the waters.

The U.S. Coast Guard patrols the passage and attempts to interdict any immigrants trying to gain entry into Puerto Rico. Before November 2006, the Coast Guard didn’t have a way to properly identify those on the boats, relying on information from the passengers. “Most immigrants didn’t give us the correct biographical information,” says Lt. John Fiorentine, a cutter commander for the Coast Guard based in San Juan. “They knew we were looking for people with criminal records and they would give us false information.”

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The Transportation Security Administration announced that it’s expanding the PreCheck screening program that enables prescreened individuals expedited passage through airport security.

TSA Administrator John S. Pistole made the announcement at the Washington Press Club. Thus far PreCheck has been rolled out at nine airports and 460,000 travelers have gone through the screening process. PreCheck enables travelers to no longer remove their shoes or light jacket and allows them to keep their laptop in its case and their 3-1-1 compliant bag in a carry-on.

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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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Identive Group has released a cloud-based NFC tag management platform that enables advertisers, retailers and organizations to deliver targeted content and services to customers’ NFC-enabled mobile devices.

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Parkmobile USA has announced that its mobile payments solution is now available on all parking meters throughout Oakland, Calif.

Oakland drivers can now pay for parking with their mobile phone using the Parkmobile app on iPhone, Android, Windows 7, and Blackberry smart phones anywhere in the city. Users can also pay for parking by tapping their NFC phone against a Parkmobile NFC-enabled sticker on the meter.

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Travelers into Dubai International Airport will have the option of using an automated border crossing checkpoint, according to GulfNews.com.

Initially deployed in Terminal three, but expected to be rolled out throughout the airport, the system will read the passports and check the facial image and iris against a watch list. The entire process takes about 15 seconds.

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Gemalto announced it has been appointed by Oman Information Technology Authority (ITA) as prime contractor to secure the country’s eGovernment services. The full solution encompasses strong authentication and digital signature using the eID card, as well as mobile authentication using a mobile handset.

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