Government ID, Smart Cards, Identification and Authentication

Israel airport introduces biometric security system

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

UNI-PASS, a self check digital security system developed by Israel’s Airport Authority, launched at Ben Gurion Airport.

The security system utilizes biometrics in issuing a smart card to passengers traveling abroad. This passenger screening in which passengers simply swipe their smart card at each security check point, is said to speed up the security process as whole. In addition the IAA said the system will create an identical screening process for each and every flyer.


UNI-PASS replaces the standard question-answer method currently practiced at airports, an IAA spokeswoman tells the Jerusalem Post.

Currently the pilot UNI-PASS is being tested on El Al Frequent Flyers Club members. [end] 

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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ImageWare Systems announced that the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), an agency that oversees Los Angeles International (LAX) airport, LA/Ontario International airport and Van Nuys airport, has placed an order for a number of biometric identity management and credentialing solutions.

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Human recognition Systems announced a partnership with the Olive Group, a provider of safety, security and technology solutions, that will see the Olive Group distributing HRS’s solutions in the Middle East and North Africa regions.

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In an effort to increase the security of the current EMV chip and PIN, SmartMetric has created an EMV card enhanced with biometrics.

The SmartMetric Chip & Biometric EMV Card incorporates fingerprints to activate the card. It’s designed to increase the security of standard EMV chip and PIN cards, which SmartMetric claims are still vulnerable to fraud attacks, even though they are safer than a magnetic stripe card.

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Department of Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano and Transportation Security Administration Administrator John S. Pistole announced the expansion of TSA PreCheck, a passenger pre-screening initiative, to additional airports across the country following the program’s success at seven pilot locations.

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A new report released by CAP Strategic Research gives insight into the airport of the future–and predicts that air travel may become less of a chore and more fun by 2025.

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