Government ID, Smart Cards, Identification and Authentication

U.S. military turns to biometrics to ward off insurgency

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

As fears of a new Sunni insurgency erupting in Iraq are rising, the U.S. military is turning towards a database of biometric information including fingerprints and iris scans to assist them in restricting excess movement throughout Iraq, according to a Wired article. The military has been compiling biometric data on Iraqi citizens for a while, however, the database also includes a large amount of data on those considered criminals during Saddam Hussein’s reign in the country.


The insurgency they are preparing for is due to a past agreement with Sunni citizens that would guarantee them good government jobs if they backed the U.S. military. As these jobs have not come to fruition for the Sunni’s, referring to themselves as the Sons of Iraq, military strategists fear that a backlash could be brewing.

However, the military has already stored the biometric information on the members of the Sons of Iraq. That information in conjunction with a number of American controlled checkpoints around Sunni controlled areas that require a biometric badge to pass enable for more control over possible insurgents.

Read the full story here [end] 

A Japanese researcher has developed a biometric that could be used to protect a car from theft: butt biometrics, according to verge.com.

Shigeomi Koshimizu, an associate professor at the Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology in Tokyo has developed the technology. A seat pressure map to generates 39 indices that are used to uniquely identify a subject’s posterior. Results so far have been encouraging, with average false reject rates of 2.2% and false accept rates of 1.1%.

read more »

The UK Border Agency has announced intentions to require applicants applying for six-month stays from outside the European Economic Area to use biometric residency permits starting at the end of February 2012, according to an HR Magazine article.

read more »

Some countries collect fingerprint or other biometric data from visitors but Afghanistan is going a step further a collecting the data from everyone entering or departing Kabul International Airport, according to the New York Times.

read more »

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.

read more »

Codebench Inc. and Hirsch Identive announced the integration of Codebench’s PIVCheck Plus software with Hirsch Identive’s Velocity Management Software, which aims to provide federal government and commercial customers with a solution for identity validation, authentication and PACS registration using mobile handheld devices.

read more »

The European Association for Biometrics (EAB) is focusing on a goal of driving the research and development of biometrics and building the future of the industry around a concern for end-user privacy protection.

read more »