Belgian ports rolling out Lumidigm fingerprint scanners
28 March, 2013
category: Biometrics, Government, Smart Cards
Lumidigm announced that Alfapass, the provider of the security smart card system at the Ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge in Belgium, is replacing the older biometric system at the ports’ registration stations with Lumidigm V-Series multispectral imaging fingerprint readers.
The Port of Antwerp is Europe’s second largest port and Alfapass is in the process of enrolling 17,000 truck drivers and 10,000 longshoremen at the two ports on the new system.
The port facilities want to identify individuals in a more efficient manner, especially for those who travel between multiple port facilities. The solution is a single ID card that covers all facilities rather than a different entrance card for each company at the port.
Therefore, visitors to both Belgian ports carry a smart card from Alfapass which includes the visitor’s biometric template. When reading the card, each individual facility has the option of also verifying the fingerprint that is stored on the card. By checking and verifying the fingerprint, facility personnel can assure that its rightful owner is presenting the card.
All port visitors are now being enrolled – from longshoremen to ship’s chaplains – with the Lumidigm fingerprint readers. The biometric readers are placed and used at port registration offices and administrative kiosks located at the “gate in” for truck drivers and elsewhere an Alfapass card can be used. Alfapass enrolls user cards with two fingerprints, assuring that if there is a problem with the primary finger, the user can simply sign in with the alternate finger. The kiosk or access control device can also ask for the second finger.
Using the Alfapass system, when a card is lost or stolen, or the person no longer works for the company, the card is automatically blocked at all participating facilities. No longer can the ex-employee or person who stole or found the card get into the ports. Only cardholders that also pass the biometric check-in are able to enter. Fraud is virtually impossible.