The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is expanding the operation of their biometrics-at-sea program to the south Florida Straits. This effort between US-VISIT and the Coast Guard uses mobile biometric technology to identify illegal migrants who are apprehended while attempting to enter the United States through the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and now, the Florida Straits.

Rear Adm. Wayne E. Justice, director of response policy said, “Broadening the scope of the program represents DHS’s commitment to use every tool we have to deter, detect, apprehend, and prosecute illegal migrants, migrant smugglers and smuggling organizations.”  

Proposed legislation would create the nation’s first mandatory employment verification system for all U.S. employers. The “The New Employee Verification Act” would create a voluntary biometrics option that employers could choose to use in the verification process. This system would include a standard background check and the collection of a “biometric” characteristic — such as a thumb print — to secure an employee’s identity and prevent the illegal use a Social Security number, stolen or fraudulently-obtained drivers’ license or altered identification documents.

Kent University has joined the Continuing Education in Electronics Systems Integration (CEESI) Training consortium of 11 UK universities. Its four modules for CEESI are: Foundations of Biometrics and Secure Systems; Industrial Context of Biometrics; Practical Biometric Systems; and Advanced Biometrics. “We are joining the leading consortium providing advanced training for industry in electronic engineering in the UK and will benefit from the many advantages this brings: cooperation, marketing and financial assistance,” said Winston Waller, senior lecturer in Electronic Engineering at Kent University. The CEESI-Training program, supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, aims to address industry’s need for flexible training in electronics systems design and integration by establishing training modules at postgraduate level, accessible mainly via the internet.  

BioLink’s fingerprint biometrics will be used for the State of Hawaii’s driver license program. The Hawaii driver license system integrates both fingerprint matching and facial recognition technologies into the card issuance process.

For the Hawaii project, BioLink supplied its optical fingerprint scanners. BioLink collaborated with Marquis ID Systems and Trijay Corporation on this project.

Fukui Computers has developed a line of biometrics-based exercise machines. The company’s ‘medimo’ exercise machines feature finger-vein-authentication technology and are networked to a central computer that remembers every person in its database. Instead of using written charts to record exercises progress, users simply touch the biometric sensor attached to each piece of equipment to access a complete history of their gym work, including what they’ve done and how many calories they’ve burned. The machines also automatically adjust their seats, handlebars and resistance to suit each user.  

IBM Corp. has protested the FBI’s Next Generation Identification project contract to Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp, according to Jeremy Grant, senior vice president and identity solutions analyst at the Stanford Group Company.

The FBI may need to suspend work on project with Lockheed until June 4, 2008, the date the protest is scheduled to be resolved. A common first step in government contract protests is for the protester to request that the Government Accountability Office issue a stay order that prohibits the agency from moving forward with work on the disputed project.

Futronic Technology Company Limited, a Hong Kong-based fingerprint biometric vendor, announced that its latest version of its FinLogon software supports Microsoft Vista and Windows 2008 Server.

Futronic Technology Company Limited, a Hong Kong-based fingerprint biometric vendor, announced that its latest version of its FinLogon software supports Microsoft Vista and Windows 2008 Server.

M2SYS LLC has announced a new fingerprint product that aims to limit the possibility of a false reject. A false reject, or false negative, occurs when the system fails to identify a successfully enrolled user.

Bio-AI is an artificial intelligence that uses a dynamic profiling technique to learn about a person’s fingerprints over time. This knowledge enables the fingerprint software to take actions that mitigate the chance of generating a false reject following a fingerprint scan, according to the Atlanta-based biometric vendor.

False rejection rates are an important factor in selecting a fingerprint biometric system. False rejects can be frustrating, and can lead to increased costs and decreased productivity for companies that have invested in fingerprint biometrics, the company states.  

San Diego-based ImageWare Systems Inc. announced a three-year, royalty-based, worldwide OEM agreement with GE Security Inc., Bradenton, Fla.

With the partnership, GE Security may include ImageWare’s products for biometric identity management, logical access control and card management as a part of its identity management solution offerings.

GE Security’s identity management solutions are security platforms with PIV I & II FIPS 201 compliant capabilities that support the production of a credential based on federal government approved PIV II credential platform specifications.