News and insight into biometric identification and authentication

Privacy concerns grow with government biometric adoption

Friday, September 25, 2009

New Zealand’s recent moves towards biometric protection at their borders has some privacy advocates fearing that similar power and technological capabilities will be extended to other areas of the government for use domestically, according to a TVNZ article.

The technology that New Zealand has put into place allows Australian and New Zealand citizen’s travel between the two countries quicker via a biometric passport and smart gates at security checkpoints that compare the biometric information on the passport with that of the individual traveling.


The major fears stem from New Zealand joining the U.S., Canada, Britain and Australia to work together on managing entry visas. While the rest of the countries have agreed to share biometric information with each other, New Zealand has not yet made that agreement.

Many worry that the information shared could breach privacy for individual citizens as there are little details in place about how the information will be shared as well as what information is to be shared.

Read the full story here[end] 

Companiesandmarkets.com has released a new report detailing the status and expected future of biometric technology in North America. Specifically detailed in the report are market drivers and restraints, industry trends, competitive environment analysis and challenges facing those in the industry taking into consideration fingerprint, face recognition, iris recognition, hand geometry, voice verification, signature verification and other biometric modes.

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While new high-tech vending machines are being released with options such as touch screens, nutritional information displays, wireless coin dispensers, stock monitors and biometric payments, some feel the idea of moving forward with biometric-based payments on the devices may not work yet, according to a Retail Solutions Online article.

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New Zealand, in conjunction with the Australian government, has begun utilizing fingerprint biometric checks of immigrants entering the country in an effort to improve border security and curb identity fraud, according to a TVNZ article.

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SmartMetric, a developer of portable biometric solutions, has announced that its biometric activated data card can now be used to contain full medical history and health records on the individual. The card, called the SmartMetric Data Card, is a standard sized card that has the capability of holding multiple pages of data as well as being inaccessible without the holder first scanning his fingerprint on the card itself.

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Human Recognition Systems, a developer of biometric solutions, has partnered with Thales to develop technology for the UK’s INSTINCT-Technology Demonstrator 2 (TD2) Airport Security Program. The INSTINCT-TD2 program is conceived in hopes of developing, trialing and showcasing the next step in airport security technology solutions by having the government work closely with private industry.

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Ghana’s major electronic clearing and payment system could provide enough space and communication capabilities to enable adding new purposes for removing ghost payrollers, according to a Peace FM Online article.

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