HID providing U.S. Green Cards, Crossmatch scanners enrolling refugees in Germany
10 December, 2015
category: Biometrics, Digital ID, Government
U.S. taps HID for Green Cards
HID Global has received an order from the U.S. government for the redesign, manufacture and supply of the country’s Permanent Resident Card– also known as the “Green Card.”
The $88.3 million agreement marks the company’s largest government contract to date, extending a nearly two-decade relationship for another five years. The agreement expands production to include the manufacture and supply of additional government documents that will be enhanced with RFID technology for improved fraud protection.
HID Global will be responsible for the secure production, delivery and storage of up to 34 million identity cards over the next five years. More than 10 million of HID Global’s first-generation multi-technology eID cards have been issued as Green Cards since 2010, with more than 32 million of the company’s first-generation Green Cards issued since 1997.
German immigration office using Crossmatch for refugees
Crossmatch announced that Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF), the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, has deployed the company’s Guardian fingerprint scanner to enroll thousands of refugees and migrants entering the country.
As the influx of refugees and migrants fleeing economically depressed, war torn or politically unstable states continues, EU member governments are under pressure to process and place individuals. One of the first steps in processing migrants is to verify or establish an assured identity. This is routinely done through fingerprinting, as many arrive without any form of valid identification or with falsified credentials. The procedure reduces fraud and abuse of the asylum process, as well as seeks to rapidly identify known terrorists or persons-of-interest from entering under false pretenses.
To date, BAMF has purchased more than 1,000 Guardian devices that are deployed at more than three-dozen field offices where refugees are fingerprinted and asylum applications are processed. Refugees’ fingerprints are checked against the BAMF database to verify identity and improve tracking, support administration and ensure accurate benefits disbursement.
GMO GlobalSign announces IAM service
GMO GlobalSign, a provider of identity and security solutions, has previewed its upcoming identity and access management solution at the 2015 Gartner Identity and Access Management Summit.
In the first quarter of 2016, the company will launch a new identity as a service (IDaaS) offering that acts as an identity hub connecting national and commercial identity providers with relying parties to offer identity proofing and strong authentication. Additionally, GlobalSign is now adding support for GSMA Mobile Connect enabling mobile network operators to become identity providers.
With the GlobalSign IAM supporting Mobile Connect and more than 20 different authentication methods, mobile network operators can become identity providers for online commerce, banking and insurance, e-government, applications, Internet of Things, APIs, or anything digital that requires authentication of users or entities. GlobalSign is engaged in pilot programs with major global mobile network operators and the GSMA to demonstrate and deliver Mobile Connect capabilities.
In the first quarter of 2016, GlobalSign will launch a cloud identity assurance service. As a hub for government eIDs as well as commercials entities — banks, mobile network operators, etc. — the GlobalSign IDaaS will aim to provide a global marketplace of trusted identities.
Serving Finland, Sweden, and the Baltic countries, Viking Line is the market leading brand in passenger traffic on the northern Baltic Sea. Viking Line is currently using GlobalSign IDaaS to allow its passengers to use their bank identities for age verification and strong authentication when accessing the cruise line’s pre-order online shopping service.
The cruise line launched the pre-order service for cruise passengers to have the option of buying items such as tax-free beverages containing alcohol before their journey starts. To enable those transactions, the company needed to verify the passenger age in the online service.