NEC Corporation has won a major contract to deploy biometric technology at 14 international airports in Brazil. Having been selected by Receita Federal, Brazil’s National Tax Collection Agency, the company will install its NeoFace Watch system at such prominent airports as the Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport (Galeão Airport) in Rio de Janeiro and the Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport (Guarulhos Airport) in Sao Paolo.
Like the many other deployments of biometric screening systems at airports around the world, this case is aiming to improve both efficiency and effectiveness of traveler screening. But NEC’s NeoFace Watch solution stands out somewhat in the versatility with which it can collect face biometric data, with photos, videos, webcams, and CCTV feeds all available as inputs. It’s a flexible system, and in the cases of these airport deployments in Brazil it’s going to primarily rely on CCTV cameras, with NEC implementing related software, server, and network infrastructure as well.
In a statement, NEC Brazil president Daniel Mirabile said that the system would be used to “facilitate the identification of passengers who have been registered for suspect activity by the agency,” which suggests that it will not be used to provide expedited screening for travelers as in the case of programs like TSA PreCheck in the US, but rather it is meant to add a layer of security to the overall passenger screening process, scanning for faces already in criminal databases and the like.
Whatever its precise aim, the system is likely to be of a high quality. A recent market research report called the company a market leader in biometric applications in security and border control. This project will be the first between the Brazilian government and NEC.
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July 16, 2015 – by Alex Perala
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