25 February, 2003
category: Biometrics, Contactless, Government
Handheld Device Will Read Text, Photographs & Biometric IDs Simultaneously
EXTON, Pa., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ – Datastrip announced today that its DSVerify2D handheld biometric ID card reader has been selected as the exclusive mobile identity verification component of a $1.2 million demonstration project awarded to BearingPoint, Inc. (NYSE: BE – News) by the Department of Defense (DoD) Biometrics Management Office. The DSVerify2D is a lightweight wireless unit that contains a built-in biometric template reader as well as text and photograph decoding capabilities, making it useful for rapid authentication of DoD personnel in environments where wireless mobile identification is required.
The project is the third in a series that is evaluating the use of biometric technologies as an added layer of security for the DoD’s Common Access Card (CAC), a smart card with an embedded computer chip that is being adopted as the department’s standard system for verifying the identity of personnel requesting access to military facilities and computer networks. The current phase of the project is focusing on the use of biometric-based cards in a wireless environment that eliminates the need to swipe cards through a reader.
Datastrip’s DSVerify2D was selected as the mobile hardware component of the project because of its ability to simultaneously decode text, photographs and biometric data stored in disparate formats, function in stand-alone mode without connection to a computer network, and accommodate a wireless receiver for “contactless” operation. The Datastrip reader is the smallest mobile verification system equipped with the flexibility and processing power to handle these complex requirements.
The combination of wireless receivers in the Datastrip units and wireless antennas in the CACs will permit identification information to be decoded via radio frequency simply by waving the card near the reader. This contactless application has the potential to speed the process of personnel identity verification at manned physical access control points. It could also minimize reader maintenance costs and prolong reader life by reducing the risk of vandalism and mechanical component failure.
“The handheld device selected for this project must be capable of meeting extraordinary processing demands, including the ability to capture and store biometric data as well as simultaneously read smart and contactless chips, mag stripes, and one- and two-dimensional bar codes,” said Chuck Lynch, Datastrip Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Our DSVerify2D can be configured to handle any or all of these requirements, and it has the added advantage of being an open system that can simultaneously support any combination of biometric technologies. No other reader on the market today has this combination of capabilities.”
Datastrip is part of a team assembled by BearingPoint, the prime contractor on the project and one of the world’s largest business consulting and systems integration firms. Other participating vendors include SPYRUS, Inc., a public-key middleware infrastructure provider; SAFLINK(TM) Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: SFLK – News), a developer of integrated biometric security solutions; Precise Biometrics, a provider of fingerprint authentication systems; XTec, a maker of smart card readers; and NetVersant, an electronic security system integrator.
Working with the DoD Biometrics Fusion Center (BFC) located in North Central West Virginia, BearingPoint is overseeing the evaluation of four separate, interoperable, biometric CAC solutions planned for use in different kinds of military environments. The Datastrip reader is being tested for the mobile identity verification scenario, to be used at DoD base entrances and in other situations requiring wireless identification because there is no physical door structure to accommodate stationary systems.
About Datastrip, Inc.
Datastrip is a leading provider of 2D bar code software, hardware and biometric verification devices, including the 2D Superscript high-density bar code Software Developers Kit (SDK); the DSVerify2D integrated bar code, smart card, passport and fingerprint reader; and the PCRead2D reader for decoding 2D bar codes on a PC. Datastrip and its integration partners provide total solutions for production of ID cards, passports, national ID cards, driver’s licenses, voter registration cards, health cards, financial cards, birth certificates and other identity documents, as well as biometric verification systems. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has selected Datastrip’s symbology as a standard for use on Machine Readable Travel Documents such as passports and visas. For more information, including a list of applications that support Datastrip’s symbology, visit www.datastrip.com.