Belize Police May Seek New Facial Recognition Vendor Over Data-sharing Issue

The Belize Police Department may soon be in the market for a new facial recognition system. According to local reports, the Department had initially planned to work with Biometrica, a Nevada-based firm, but is now reconsidering the partnership due to the question of how sensitive data will be handled.

At a press conference, Police Commissioner Chester Williams explained that the agreement is “on hold,” though negotiations continue. Williams suggested that Biometrica’s technology may require police authorities to send sensitive information – namely criminal databases – to the company, rather than store the data in-house.

Williams suggested that if Biometrica could deliver a technical fix to this issue, the partnership could proceed, but that it wasn’t yet clear whether the company would be able to do so.

When a reporter asked what would happen if Biometrica couldn’t resolve the issue, the Commissioner responded, “Then we look at other sources because there are other sources out there that do provide the software without us having to share the data.”

Biometrica’s history can be traced back to at least 2016, when it secured an initial round of growth capital from revenue-based financier Lighter Capital. In the same year, the company appointed Wyly Wade as CEO and President to lead its domestic and international expansion efforts.

Its main offerings include SSIN (Security & Surveillance Information Network), an encrypted network for sharing security and surveillance information; and UMbRA, a database containing over 16 million law enforcement-sourced records, updated in real-time. Facial recognition is central to its biometric platform.

Biometrica has worked with the International Center for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) to help locate missing children; and in 2018, its UMbRA database was integrated into the VSBLTY VECTOR platform to provide security and surveillance solutions for venues like stadiums and events.

More recently, in 2022, Biometrica partnered with a non-profit startup to assist in finding missing and murdered indigenous people using its facial recognition technology.

Sources: 7 News, Channel 5 Belize

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October 1, 2024 – by Alex Perala