Austria’s biggest private hospital chain, the ‘Barmherzige Brüder,’ is to begin using biometric fingerprinting to control access to IT systems. The biometric solution is delivered by Siemens IT Solutions and Services. The company has integrated its ID Center software into the Citrix-based Hospital Information System and installed PC mice with a sensor. Siemens provides the algorithms for encryption and storage of fingerprint features, together with the necessary software for identity management and verification of access authorizations. They will install biometric sensors for around 3,500 employees.

In a move that has some people shouting “Big Brother,” Microsoft has applied for a new patent for a system that can track a worker’s productivity, physical wellbeing and competence. The Microsoft patent details a “unique monitoring system” that includes wireless sensors that read heart rate, galvanic skin response, EMG, brain signals, respiration rate, body temperature, movement facial movements, facial expressions and blood pressure. If the system picked up an increase in heart rate or facial expressions suggestive of stress or frustration, it would tell management that the employee needed help. Unions said they fear that employees could be dismissed on the basis of a computer’s assessment of their physiological state.

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Catherine J. Tilton, Vice President, Standards and Emerging Technology, Daon

This has been an interesting year for biometrics, with a number of high-profile government programs being awarded and/or deployed, both within the US and internationally.

In the US, the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) began deployment for maritime workers, the US Registered Traveler (RT) program was rolled out to numerous airports, the US-VISIT program is scheduled to begin its ten-print pilot by year end, and many anxiously await the award of the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) system this year as well.

Niles P. Dally, Vice President Sales, NuVision Networks Corp

So much of what any of us say about what will happen in the future is based on what we know now; however technology, business relationships, and consumer needs are constantly changing. Who would have foreseen this time last year the tragedy at Virginia Tech and the priorities and changes that have been made on campuses as a result.

Transamerica Financial Advisors (TFA) has selected Interlink Electronics to capture legal eSignatures on registered financial product transactions through its paperless office platform known as TFA Synergy. Utilizing Interlink’s e-Pad signature device in tandem with IntegriSign software, Interlink’s IntegriSign application encrypts and permanently embeds the electronic signature in the document and related data such as date and time along with key biometric information (such as signing velocity and pressure) unique to each individual signature.

Visiphor’s core data integration and facial recognition software products are to be implemented in a state-wide law enforcement integration project in the United States. The total contract, awarded via Visiphor’s partner Austin Biometrics LLC, is valued at $394,500. The total solution will include three components: 1) Visiphor’s proprietary facial recognition software, 2) InForce IQ, a web-based ‘federated query’ application, and 3) Visiphor’s data sharing product, BIE. The client will be able to query multiple databases using facial imagery and text-based identifiers to locate subject information.

UPEK has launched Protector Suite® for Mac software at the Macworld conference in San Francisco. In combination with the Eikon™ Digital Privacy Manager, a USB peripheral fingerprint reader, Protector Suite for Mac enables Mac users to swipe their finger instead of typing passwords to login as well as access password-protected websites and secure preferences. Protector Suite for Mac is scheduled to be available in Japanese, French, German and Spanish in the first half of 2008.

The first biometric passports for Russians traveling abroad will be issued this month. The passport will include a special photograph of the holder and contain a microchip for digital finger or retina prints. But the chip will remain empty for now because the government has yet to pass the necessary legislation. The new Russian passport with the empty chip looks similar to the old passport except for perforated figures on the pages and a thicker cover page with a digital photograph of the holder. The passports would be issued nationwide by 2009 and the old ones would remain valid.

Logica Holdings is offering proprietary biometric technology enrollment and validation system for underage users of social networking sites to help prevent sexual predators from using those sites to contact children. Logica’s technology incorporating biometric technology in the form of a fingerprint reader, developed along with its partners Novell, Fujitsu and 123ID, is currently being employed in Logica’s new web site Annesdiary.com. Logica intends to approach MySpace and other social networking sites with its unique solution.  

The UK plan of fingerprint checks on all visa applicants is complete three months ahead of schedule and under budget. Anyone applying for a visa from 133 countries covering three quarters of the world’s population now have their fingerprints checked against UK databases. Biometric fingerprints have been taken from more than one million people, and so far 10,000 visa applicants have been identified who have previously been fingerprinted in the UK in connection with immigration cases or asylum applications. The plan also exceeded the Prime Minister’s target of removing or deporting more than 4,000 foreign national prisoners by the end of 2007 by 200. By the end of 2008, the UK also plans to begin issuing compulsory ID cards for foreign nationals who want to stay.