Thales tapped for e-passports, Precise records new orders
12 July, 2013
category: Biometrics, Government, Smart Cards
Thales to manage biometric acquisition in France
A partnership between Thales and Orange Business Services will undertake biometric data acquisition for French passports. Addition to the civil biometrics program in France further cements Thales’s place in the French identity management market.
Currently comprised of an estimated 4,000 biometric data acquisition devices, France’s civil biometric program is leveraging local and regional government offices in metropolitan France as well as the country’s disparate, overseas departments. These biometric acquisition devices are used to capture digital fingerprints, take photos and record the relevant personal details of French Passport applicants.
Orange Business Services brings its scalable infrastructure to the partnership. The infrastructure, which is deployed for ANTS, will act as the basis for Thales’ accompanying modular, scalable biometric data acquisition solution.
Natural Security named ‘Privacy By Design’ ambassador
Natural Security has announced its selection by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario as a Privacy by Design ambassador. As a Privacy by Design ambassador, Natural Security will join an network of organizations that work to ensure privacy in the development of new technology.
Privacy by Design ambassadors follow seven principles in their development and delivery of new technology:
- Proactive not Reactive – Preventative not Remedial
- Privacy as the Default Setting
- Privacy Embedded into Design
- Full Functionality – Positive-Sum, not Zero-Sum
- End-to-End Security – Full Lifecycle Protection Visibility and Transparency – Keep it Open
- Respect for User Privacy – Keep it User-Centric
Precise Biometrics records 9.9 million SEK in hardware orders
Sweden-based Precise Biometrics has revealed an estimated 9.9 million Swedish Kronon ($1.46 million) in hardware orders for Q2 and Q3 2013. This follows a reported 6.5 million SEK tallied in Q2. Precise has revealed that the 9.9 million SEK boost in hardware orders are a follow‐up from an existing customer in the Middle East.
The hardware orders are for Precise Biometrics’ 200-series readers, which combine fingerprint and smart card utilities into current government ID card projects that can then be used with Precise Match‐on‐Card technology.
Secure identity industry boasts impressive attendance at SDW 2013
SDW 2013 saw a record number of players from the secure identity industry in attendance. The 7th annual event, which took place in London on May 21-23, was put on by Science Media Partners and recorded more conference delegates, exhibition visitors and sponsors than ever before. The event also played host to SDW InterOp 2013, an international ePassport interoperability and document conformity testing event.
In addition to a roster of 99 exhibiting companies, the event saw some 1,550 attendees over the three-day event – a rise of 20% over the 2012 event. The number of conference delegates also rose from 350 in 2012 to 427 in 2013.
To further demonstrate its international scope, the event welcomed attendees from a record 65 countries, of which 52.3% came from outside of the UK and 12% from beyond the European continent.
On the company side, 18% of attendees represented government organizations, while 12% were commercial end users for sectors such as aviation, transportation and logistics. A majority of the remaining attendees hailed from security printer manufacturers, industry suppliers, integrators, consultants, academics and media.
For more on SDW 2013, see the event’s brochure here.