Border Control & National ID Month: The Primer

June is Border Control & National ID Month 2016 at FindBiometrics. All month we will be examining the ins-and-outs of biometric citizen registry and identification—its applications, real life deployments, and how it is shaping the global community—as well as the way biometrics are protecting the borders of the nations they are helping to build. To start things off, here is a primer to get you up to speed on all the recent happenings in the worlds of biometric national identification and border control.

National ID Around The World

Biometric national ID is taking the world by storm. Thanks to advances in mobility, efficacy, and accessibility in biometrics, countries around the globe are now able to offer their citizens the essential services and benefits offered by having an identity document. Banking, food subsidies, social security, international travel—these are just some of the benefits enabled for citizens when they enroll in a digital national ID program. And while a few massive scale ID projects hog the spotlight, the fact remains: biometric national ID is spreading to an increasing number of nations. Here are just some of the countries with either nascent or developed national ID programs, and how they are successfully implementing such important systems:

Turkey Begins Issuance of Biometric IDs

Indian Gov’t Has Collected Biometrics of Almost a Billion Citizens

Green Bit to Provide Biometric Scanners for Jordan eID Project

Hungary Launches Biometric eIDs

Saudi Arabia Uses Biometric Identification on Pilgrim Visitors

Pakistan to Introduce Biometric Passports Next Year

The Good Old Drivers License

Of course, some countries already have long established civil ID systems or alternative secure documents that can be used to enable all the perks that come with the government knowing you have an official identity. In the United States, for instance, your driver’s license can serve as your proof of identity. But just because it’s already implemented doesn’t mean it can’t be upgraded to fit with the biometric paradigm. In the USA we are seeing biometric and mobile-based driver’s licenses emerge, combining biometric assurance and the convenience of mobility.

Washington State to Issue Biometric Driver’s Licenses

Iowa Tests Mobile Driver’s Licences

Border Control Around the World

Just as national ID is a worldwide biometric application, so is border control. Acuity Market Intelligence is forecasting the global ABC eGate and kiosk market as on track to reach $1 billion in annual revenue by 2020, and it’s clear that the technology is spreading as we see deployments and initiatives sprout up all over the world, bringing biometric security and convenience to border crossings. Here are just some of the countries that have committed to improving their borders with biometrics:

Curaçao Airport Deploys Vision-Box ABC Solution

Charles de Gaulle Airport to Trial Facial Recognition System

Morocco Awards Contract for Huge Biometric Border Project

Barbados Gov’t Delays Launch of Biometric Border Screening

Japan Seeks Facial Recognition for Border Security

Morpho to Provide Tech for Singapore Airport’s FAST Project

Trinidad & Tobago Considers Biometric Screening at Airports

The Many Modalities of Border Control

Safran Identity & Security (formerly Morpho) has predicted that border control is destined to become multimodal, like so many verticals have been skewing recently. Such a future is not difficult to imagine considering the range of modalities that are already being used around the world at border crossings. Iris, face and fingerprint are the most common, and each have their strengths when serving border control applications. The following articles will give you an idea of how different biometric modalities fit into the large picture of border control.

Multimodal Biometric Security is the Future of Border Control: Morpho

Iris ID Provides Crucial Biometric Tech for CBP Border Project

Aruba Airport Expands Vision-Box eGate Solution

Canadian Authorities Test Facial Recognition Screening for Border Security

Dermalog Deploys eGate Solution in Maldives

Biometrics and The Migrant Crisis

As an international community we are currently facing a migrant crisis. People seeking refuge from nations and states for reasons of personal safety, politics, and war are being taken in by host nations on multiple continents. One of the major challenges that comes with serving refugees, caring for them, and finding them a home, is that without a home nation they are also without manageable ID. Not to mention, identity theft is not uncommon in refugee camps. To solve this problem head on, the UNHCR and other government bodies have worked with a number of biometrics technology providers to implement biometric identification for refugees all across the globe.

The following links will give you insight into some of the many ways biometric tech is helping give refugees the identity that is theirs by right.

German Officials Deploy Crossmatch Tech at Refugee Centers

UN Refugee Agency Brings Biometric IDs to South Sudan

DERMALOG to Highlight Tech’s Role in Refugee Crisis at CeBIT

UN’s Biometric Refugee ID Rollout Starts in Thailand

Malaysia Urged to Adopt Biometric IDs for Refugee Crisis

UN Agency Selects Accenture for Refugee Biometrics Project

Crossmatch Biometrics Tech To Register Migrants in Greece

Biometric ID and National Security

With biometric national ID the government can better know its population—not just who they are, but where they are travelling and for how long. In today’s global climate of terrorism, national ID can therefore be invoked as a powerful security tool. In Nigeria, biometric national ID is being used to fight terrorist organization Boko Haram, while in India, the government is trying to pass legislation that would allow it to use the formidable Aadhaar database as a law enforcement tool.

Indian Gov’t Seeks to Open Aadhaar Data to Security Agencies

Biometric National ID Invoked to Fight Boko Haram

By Air, Land and Sea

There’s more than one way to enter and exit a country, and where it be by land, sea or air, biometrics is making the process more accountable and convenient while keeping nations secure. Biometric pre-screening programs are being aimed at reducing airport wait times, while solutions like the one being piloted at the Otay Mesa land border crossing in the United States is bringing biometrics to the boundaries you can drive to. Seaports are also a point of entry, and biometrics are being used to process travelers there too. Take a look at how you can encounter biometrics at every type of port:

MorphoTrust Highlights PreCheck as TSA Wait Time Solution

TSA PreCheck Enrollments Pass Two Million Mark

SITA ABC eGates Improve Passenger Processing at Naples Airport

Unisys Tech Used in CBP Border Screening Trial

Vision-Box Aims New Platform at ‘All Air, Land and Sea Borders’

Singapore to Implement Biometric Screening at All Points of Entry

Customs and Security

Border control isn’t only about making sure travelers are following air travel protocols, it’s also about keeping an inventory of the people, goods, and substances entering and exiting a country. To that effect, biometrics are playing a strong role in customs enforcement—one of the key areas where bometrics and mobility intersect with border security.

CBP Orders Ruggedized Identification Kits from MorphoTrak

ICE Agents to be Equipped with NEC Mobile Identification Solution

IBIA Calls on DHS to Embrace Biometric Entry-Exit

US Political Support Grows for Biometric Exit Screening

Financial Inclusion

Identity is a basic prerequisite for financial services, and in a world where billions of people are unbanked, biometric national registries can be a powerful tool. Using biometric identification databases, governments working with financial services providers can give the underserved access to banking, savings, pension services, and more. Here are just a few of the ways biometric registries cross over with finance.

Aadhaar Finding Impactful Links to Banking

Money20/20 Europe: MasterCard and Digital Identity

“I’M Alive” Program to Register Lagos Pensioners’ Biometrics

Government eServices

National ID can go beyond simply allowing for the implementation of basic essential services, it can also allow for existing government programs to be improved in terms of accountability and convenience. With the ability to verify your identity to the government, you can potentially access high risk services remotely. From tax filing to updating your address on government records, national ID can allow for easier interaction with your home nation’s institutions.

Indian Citizens Can Update Aadhaar Info Online

Biometric Visa Restrictions Underline The Demand For eServices

Tax Agencies Tap MorphoTrust for eID Solution

Alabamians Can Use Selfie Authentication for Tax Filings

National ID and The Fight Against Fraud

An application of national ID that we can see being implemented in India—which has one of the largest and most ambitious national ID programs in the world—is in bringing greater accountability to the public sector. Aadhaar ID has been implemented in time and attendance capabilities throughout the Indian government, in public workplaces, and even in schools. The following links will give you an idea of how these systems are deployed, and what obstacles they have faced.

Aadhaar to Help Sort Students in State School System

Indian City Takes Out Trash with Aadhaar Attendance Tracking

Aadhaar Requirement for Workers Faces Backlash

Aadhaar Attendance-Trackers Rolling Out Across Delhi

Morpho to Use Aadhaar To Enroll Airtel Subscribers

The Importance of Enrollment

National ID programs depend on enrollment. Without the biometrics of the people, a citizen registry is missing its most human element. The links below concerning Aadhaar enrollment will shed light on just how large a task on-boarding can be when trying to register millions upon millions of citizens.

Aadhaar Milestone Gives Iris ID Reason to Celebrate

Morpho Celebrates Billionth Aadhaar Enrollment

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Join FindBiometrics throughout June as we continue to examine biometric national ID in our featured articles section. Be sure to sign up for our upcoming expert webinar, Biometric National ID in a New Era of Migration, and follow us on Twitter so you don’t miss a beat.