News and insight into biometric identification and authentication

DHS begins collecting 10 fingerprints John F. Kennedy International Airport

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has begun collecting additional fingerprints from international visitors arriving at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The change is part of the department’s upgrade from two- to 10-fingerprint collection.

JFK is the tenth port of entry to begin collecting 10 fingerprints from international visitors. US VISIT is evaluating 10 fingerprint collection at these airports. It will use the results to inform the deployment of the technology to the remaining air, sea and land border ports of entry that will transition to collecting 10 fingerprints by December 2008.

“Biometrics have revolutionized our ability to prevent dangerous people from entering the United States since 2004. Our upgrade to 10 fingerprint collection builds on our success, enabling us to focus more attention on stopping potential security risks,” US VISIT Director Robert Mocny said. [end] 

In an effort to streamline passenger security, Jakarta, Indonesia’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport has opened the country’s first biometric immigration gate.

Fingerprint biometric identification provider BIO-key International, Inc. and Oakwell Engineering Limited partnered to create the new gate, designed for use by passengers with electronic passports. Passengers submit their e-passports and authenticate with a fingerprint.

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The 25,000 VIPs, including athletes, coaches and officials, arriving for the summer Olympics in London through Heathrow International Airport will have a dedicated passport lane just for them when passing through immigration, according to a Daily Mail article.

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Some countries collect fingerprint or other biometric data from visitors but Afghanistan is going a step further a collecting the data from everyone entering or departing Kabul International Airport, according to the New York Times.

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Department of Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano and Transportation Security Administration Administrator John S. Pistole announced the expansion of TSA PreCheck, a passenger pre-screening initiative, to additional airports across the country following the program’s success at seven pilot locations.

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ImageWare Systems announced that the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), an agency that oversees Los Angeles International (LAX) airport, LA/Ontario International airport and Van Nuys airport, has placed an order for a number of biometric identity management and credentialing solutions.

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SITA, an IT provider for the air travel industry, has unveiled its first proof-of-concept for a solution that enables travelers to check in at the airport, gain access to members’ lounges and board their flight all with a simple tap of an NFC-enabled phone.

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