FaceTec’s biometric UR Code credentials are in production at two New York sheriff’s offices and through Project Lifesaver International. The QR-based credentials are being used for active-duty identification, retired-officer credentials and the identification of people at risk of wandering.
The Albany County Sheriff’s Office uses UR Codes to secure identification for more than 700 staff members. The Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office applies them to retiree and Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act credentials, while Project Lifesaver is adding the codes to locator bracelets and labels for clothing and footwear.
A UR Code looks like a conventional QR code but contains verified identity attributes, biometric face-vector data and a digital signature from the issuing organization. When it is scanned, the software checks the signature to confirm the stated issuer and detect changes to the encoded information. A face-match interface then compares the person presenting the credential with the biometric data held in the code.
The comparison can run through FaceTec’s Scan+Match application on Android and iOS, as well as on desktop hardware. FaceTec says the process can operate online or offline and does not require a central database lookup, allowing the relying party to check the issuer-signed credential and compare it with the person presenting it.
In Albany County, UR Codes are used to secure staff identification. The biometric comparison is intended to prevent someone from using another person’s lost or stolen card, while the digital signature lets the scanner check whether the information in the code has been altered.
“A UR Code on sheriffs’ IDs lets partner agencies, businesses, or citizens instantly verify a credential is current and unrevoked, cutting down on impersonation and speeding up verification,” Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said. He added that the same approach lets a relying party confirm the HR 218 qualification status of a retiree without calling the issuing agency or requesting paperwork.
Saratoga County uses the codes for retired law-enforcement officers and HR 218 compliance cards. HR 218 is the House bill number commonly used as shorthand for the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, the federal law that permits qualified active and retired officers carrying the required identification to carry concealed firearms across state lines, subject to exceptions in the statute. Retired officers must also meet firearms qualification requirements within the preceding 12 months.
Those credentials are often presented far from the agency that issued them. FaceTec says Saratoga County’s implementation supports nationwide and offline checks, giving an officer in another jurisdiction a way to compare the cardholder with the face data in the code. Sheriff Jeff Brown said his agency had used FaceTec for its HR 218 and retiree cards for some time and that UR Codes had brought them “to the next level of security.”
Project Lifesaver is adding UR Codes to locator bracelets and to labels that can be attached to clothing, footwear and other personal items. FaceTec says the nonprofit operates through more than 1,700 jurisdictions in the United States and Canada, serving people with autism, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and other cognitive conditions that can lead to wandering.
A community member or first responder can scan the code, compare the located person with its biometric data and retrieve contact information for the designated first responder. The process is meant to help identify someone who is non-verbal or disoriented and connect that person with a caregiver.
The deployments follow proof-of-concept work with state motor vehicle departments and the release of issuer-side software that lets organizations generate codes within their own infrastructure. The UR Codes software development kit also underwent an independent reverse-engineering review by Praetorian Security in March 2025. The assessment recorded no critical, high, medium, low or informational findings within its scope.
Sources: FaceTec, U.S. Code, Project Lifesaver International, Praetorian Security
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
