The Department of Homeland Security is looking into iris scanning for its official ID cards.
Through its Office of the Chief Security Office (OCSO), the Department is requesting information on iris biometrics technologies that could be compatible with its PIV cards. The DHS says the iris scanning technologies it’s interested in would need to comply with the IDENT Automated Biometric Identification System, the Identity Management System, the Enterprise Issuance Workstations, and the GSA Approved Products List, in addition to the federal government’s PIV platform. Captured iris images would need to comply with the NIST Special Publication 800-76-2 and ISO/IEC 19794-6:2011.
The move comes amid increasing interest in iris biometrics on a broad scale. Iris scanning tied for third most exciting biometric modality in the recent FindBiometrics’ Year in Review industry survey, and in the consumer sector, the iris scanner anticipated for Samsung’s next flagship smartphone is expected to make a big splash. Meanwhile, Fingerprint Cards, one of the world’s leading sensor makers, has recently announced that it is buying iris scanning specialist Delta ID.
In a statement, the DHS emphasized that it is merely requesting information at this time, and is not requesting bids or proposals for iris scanning PIV ID card technologies. That having been said, “interested parties should provide a written Statement of Capability in conjunction with a demo-ready product” that meets the Department’s requirements, with vendors invited “to provide alternative approaches and technologies to differentiate their responses”.
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February 16, 2017 – by Alex Perala
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