Military used biometrics to confirm bin Laden’s identity
04 May, 2011
category: Biometrics
Among the tools U.S. armed forces had at their disposal to ensure they had the correct identity of Osama bin Laden after killing him were biometric scanners such as facial recognition, according to a Wired article.
The specific tool used by military personnel to be sure they had the right person was an updated version of the Secure Electronic Enrolment Kit (SEEK II), a mobile biometric device that collects iris scans, fingerprints or facial scans and authenticates identities by comparing the information wirelessly to an FBI database.
The SEEK II device, also known as Crossmatch, is a faster, more robust version of the BATS and HIIDE biometric collection systems that military personnel had been using in the past in the Middle East to try and collect as much information as possible to better distinguish between citizens and those with terrorist ties.
The SEEK II had some important upgrades over its predecessors especially in terms of its database access as well as its ability to communicate wirelessly due to its multiple communication capabilities as well as its access to databases beyond those held in the country its being used.
Despite the push for usefulness of the facial recognition, defense officials maintain that fingerprint biometrics have remained the most useful and dependable mode of biometric authentication for the military. Due to this, however, some see the modern procedures for such military operations are taking on a somewhat police work feel that sees military personnel collecting evidence and sending back to the FBI for analyzing.
Read the full story here.