The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration have expanded their Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with Global e-dentity, a Delaware-based multimodal biometrics firm, through amendment AM01 to existing CRADA No. DHS 25-TSA-014.
Cooperative Research and Development Agreements, known as CRADAs, are a standard DHS mechanism for co-developing emerging technologies with private partners. They typically involve shared intellectual property arrangements rather than direct government payments, allowing agencies to access novel capabilities while limiting procurement risk.
Global e-dentity, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business registered in Delaware, specializes in patented vein-matching and bone-scanning biometrics that use subsurface vascular structures rather than surface characteristics like fingerprints or facial geometry. The company’s technology uses near-infrared imaging, Doppler ultrasound, and transillumination to map vein patterns and blood flow, which it positions as resistant to spoofing because the underlying biological features cannot be captured from a distance or reproduced from photographs.
The CRADA expansion comes as TSA accelerates its digital identity modernization program. The agency deployed TSA ConfirmID in February 2026, an alternative identity verification system allowing travelers without REAL ID-compliant documents to confirm their identity at security checkpoints. Digital ID verification and facial comparison technology have been deployed at a growing number of U.S. airports, with TSA citing both throughput improvements and security gains.
For Global e-dentity, the expanded CRADA with DHS and TSA provides government validation for a technology suite that has had limited large-scale deployment. The company exited a separate conditional licensing arrangement with FDI Advisory Group in February 2026, citing strategic realignment toward the airport and banking sectors.
Vein biometrics occupy a distinct niche in the identity verification market. Unlike facial recognition, which operates at a distance, vein-pattern matching typically requires deliberate physical contact, making it suited to controlled access environments like airport secure areas or financial institution counters. The modality produces no usable image of an external physical characteristic, a property that Global e-dentity cites in positioning the technology for higher-assurance use cases.
The company has said the expanded CRADA will cover additional testing of its capture hardware and matching algorithms in TSA environments, building on work conducted under the original agreement. Neither DHS nor TSA has disclosed a timeline for the expanded phase, and CRADAs do not constitute commitments to procurement.
Sources: Global e-dentity, TSA
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By Cass Kennedy
