Biometric IDs

Biometric Devices Help New Jersey County Track Delivery of Services to Homeless People

Editor's Note: It is easy to see how local and state governments (as well as the feds) will use this type of biometric identification for recipients of other government services, especially Obamacare.

October 27, 2010

Government Technology - Bergen County, N.J., has dealt with one particular dilemma for years: The Department of Human Services (DHS) needs to estimate how many homeless individuals receive services, such as food, medicine and shelter. But many people served by the department don’t have accurate forms of identification, and without a precise tracking system, the DHS might have erroneously counted one person who visits the shelter 10 times, for example, as 10 different people visiting once.

And when it comes time to properly fill out grant applications to receive funding support, accuracy counts for the DHS.

“It’s not like you can do a head count,” said Susan Nottingham, the department’s Homeless Management Information System administrator. “We could sit down and say, ‘Can we talk to you for 45 minutes?’ But we didn’t want them to turn around and say, ‘We’re not that hungry.’”

Now with biometrics technology, Bergen County has implemented a solution that helps the DHS keep an accurate count of the homeless people who receive social services. In September, the DHS unveiled a fingerprint identification system developed by Fulcrum Biometrics, a San Antonio-based company.

Working with New Jersey Business Systems, the company used its Fulcrum Biometric Framework to develop a Web-based application that links finger image scanners at DHS service sites and a fingerprint-matching algorithm to the existing New Jersey Homeless Management Information System. While Fulcrum’s Web services interface provides automated information exchange between the two systems, both systems operate independently.

“They realized that it was really difficult to get accurate metrics — who they’re serving, how many times — without really having to harass homeless people,” said Ken Nosker, president of Fulcrum Biometrics. “We gave them a custom solution that is actually not integrated with the large state database, but communicates with the database.”

The data-sharing method reduces “check-in” time to seconds: no sign-in sheets or extensive interviews. DHS workers simply open a Web page and select the service and location. A homeless person comes in, places a finger on the scanner, and the computer captures the data and communicates with the state database to verify the person’s identity.

The county paid $90,000 for the solution, Nottingham said, and so far the system has collected data from about 450 homeless people.

However, she added, the biometric device doesn’t store pictures of fingerprints, but gathers numerical values that correspond to the unique points on a person’s finger. This method protects the data and gives the DHS accurate numbers to work with.

The system helped the county recognize that food programs attract the largest crowds in the third week of the month — not the last week like officials originally thought. Such findings will allow the DHS to adjust its strategies to improve service delivery.

And the county can now tell funders exactly how many homeless people have been served by DHS workers in a given time and, in turn, how much their contributions have helped support homeless management efforts.

“It’s opening all kinds of interesting opportunities for us,” Nottingham said. “There’s a very clear picture, and it makes us astoundingly accountable.”

Flashback: Ohio Airport Adopts Biometric System

September 29, 2003

Government Technology - Demonstrating its commitment to security and serving as an example for other airports to follow, Toledo Express Airport, Toledo, OH, unveiled its new biometric security system, which accurately verifies the identity of an individual by the unique physical characteristics of his or her hand. With the new system, Toledo Express is the second airport in the United States and the first in the Midwest to completely control access to its tarmac and other sensitive areas using biometric technologies.

With HandReaders from Recognition Systems Inc. (RSI), a business of Ingersoll-Rand Company Limited, Toledo Express Airport now can monitor the movements of airport employees throughout its facility, ensuring that only approved personnel can gain entrance to the tarmac and other critical areas. Through its installation of RSI biometric HandReaders, Toledo Express Airport joins San Francisco International Airport, with its 18,000 employees, as the only two U.S. airports to use biometrics to completely control access to tarmacs. Both airports use RSI's HandReaders.

"Security is a paramount issue for the air service industry. By electing to use this system to monitor our employees, Toledo Express joins an elite group of airports that employs biometrics, one of the most effective security technologies for optimizing security for employees and passengers," said Paul L. Toth, Jr., Airports Director for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority.

The devices use patented technologies to analyze more than 90 unique measurements of the size and shape of a person's hand, taking only a few seconds to complete. The hand geometry is then compared to information in a central database that tracks and monitors employee movements and access to sensitive areas.

Along with Toledo Express Airport, numerous regional and international airports have selected RSI biometric HandReaders to secure vital operations areas within their facilities, including Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport in San Jose, CA; Boise Airport in Idaho; Salt Lake City Airport in Utah and Manchester International in the United Kingdom.

Toledo Express is among a group of airports globally that has begun to employ RSI HandReaders to monitor employees, who often have access to sensitive areas of an airport where employee and passenger security could be compromised. In addition to Toledo Express, San Francisco International Airport and Ben Gurion Airport in Israel use RSI HandReaders to monitor employees for greater security. Every day SFO processes 18,000 employees with access to critical air operations through the RSI HandReaders.

Flashback: The Eyes Have It

June 17, 2002

Access Excellence - Security systems that scan the iris of your eye may soon help speed you through those long lines at the airport.

Following the events of September 11th, there has been increased emphasis on improving security while minimizing inconvenience to travelers. Iris recognition systems would seem to fit the bill. Such systems are now in limited use at several airports in Europe and the United States.

These systems take advantage of random variations in the visible features the iris, the colored ring around the pupil. After a traveler has his iris scanned once, a unique file is placed in a database. Subsequently, the traveler simply looks at a suitably equipped camera that scans and checks the iris in little more than one second.

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol began using its automated border passage system in October 2001. That system combines iris recognition technology and an advanced smart card. It is the first of its kind to use iris recognition to secure border control. New enhancements to the system will extend its functions to include ticketing, check in, screening and boarding. Schiphol will also use an iris recognition system behind the scenes to provide secure access to restricted areas.

An iris recognition system is also being evaluated at London's Heathrow airport. Frequent transatlantic travelers on British Airways and Virgin now use the EyeTicket Jetstream system to speed them through passport control at the world's busiest airport. The system is similar to that in use at Schiphol. A similar system is in place in Germany's Frankfurt Airport. While the North American experience has so far been limited to the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, plans are now underway to install similar systems at JFK in New York, Dulles in Washington, DC and at 14 international airports in Canada...

Iris Scan’s Cheaper Than Fingerprints in India

May 10, 2010

Hindustan Times - The Unique Identification Authority of India expects the cost of the eye scan process for issuing unique identification to be 30-50 per cent less than fingerprint matching software.

In a status paper on iris scan issued on Wednesday, the authority the cost of the scan had been a concern.

“However, the current high prices for iris technology are a result of low volume and its use in cost insensitive security applications. Considering the large demand that will come from India for iris devices and software, the UIDAI expects the prices for devices and software to fall rapidly,” the paper said.

About the risk of vendor lock, the paper said the UID authority had evaluated the available choices among iris technology vendors and concluded that a lock-in could be avoided.

It said the authority would adopt a three-pronged approach to avoid lock-in. It said that to ensure uniqueness, the UIDAI has to minimise the false acceptance rate (FAR) in its biometrics.

“However, the Biometrics Committee (that was set up to suggest the kind of biometrics needed) noted that the approach using fingerprint biometrics alone, in addition to face, will meet two challenges within the Indian environment.”

The varying quality of fingerprints, particularly among the poor, and the scale of database, at 1.2 billion records are the two problems it faces.

“Both these could make uniqueness in biometrics difficult to achieve,” it said.

The paper said the risk that fingerprinting may not be sufficient to ensure uniqueness cannot be ignored.

“The logistics of going back and re-enrolling residents, in case the biometrics set is insufficient, would be unacceptable,” it said.