Federal UAE Agency Installs SAFR Biometric Tech

SAFR and EPM are working together to enable face-based access control for an unnamed federal agency in the United Arab Emirates. The joint solution integrates SAFR from RealNetworks’ facial recognition technology into EPM’s broader security platform.

The announcement comes after a three-month trial with the federal agency in question. The agency installed the solution at all points of entry at its headquarters, leveraging its existing surveillance infrastructure to conduct the requisite facial recognition scans and monitor access to the building. The system has now been used to screen more than 15,000 employees, and has not generated any false positives during that time.

The SAFR system offers liveness detection, and is able to identify people wearing masks with 98.85 percent accuracy thanks to an October update that also introduced mask detection capabilities. SAFR 3.0 will allow UAE government employees to prove their identities without touching a shared terminal or removing a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have been impressed by SAFR’s ability to recognize faces even under changing light throughout the day and even at night — including for drivers when they are inside cars,” said EPM Systems & Solutions Director Hadi Omer. “We believe that adding SAFR’s computer vision to our portfolio of AI applications will offer even more robust and convenient secure access options for our customers throughout the Middle East.”

“SAFR is committed to building a growing business in the Middle East,” added SAFR Middle East VP Walter Candelu. “We’re pleased that our joint solution has been trusted by a well-respected federal agency to provide authentication for their employees.”

The SAFR-EPM solution will create an auditable log of access events at the federal HQ. EPM is the second security company to integrate SAFR’s improved facial recognition tech in the past month after SAFR formed a similar partnership with Setelsa Security. SAFR has also signed contracts with the US Air Force and Otay-Tijuana Venture LLC.

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December 14, 2020 – by Eric Weiss