Project Lifesaver International is adding FaceTec UR Codes to the locator bracelets it issues to people at risk of wandering. The change lets a member of the public identify someone who has become lost, using a smartphone and the code on the wrist in front of them. The nonprofit announced the nationwide adoption at its annual conference in Orlando.
Project Lifesaver equips and trains local sheriffs, police and first responders to search for people who leave a safe environment because of autism, dementia or other cognitive conditions, a behaviour the field calls elopement. It was formed out of search and rescue 27 years ago and was the first organisation to take the problem up on behalf of at-risk individuals. Since 1999 it has been the only nonprofit actively educating and equipping public safety agencies for the protection, search and safe recovery of people who have become lost. It has rescued more than 4,650 people.
The codes go on the locator bracelet itself, and on separate labels that can be attached to clothing, shoes and other personal items, which gives responders more than one place to look. Anyone with a smartphone can scan one. The scan returns the encoded identity information and the contact details for the local law enforcement agency or the first responder designated for that person. It also lets the scanner match the biometric data carried in the code against the face of the person standing there.
FaceTec’s UR code format carries embedded, digitally signed biometric and legal identity information, which supports two-party verification without a central database behind it. FaceTec offers the codes to issuers such as motor vehicle departments, passport authorities, schools and employers, and has also been working to deploy it in the healthcare sector, publishing a white paper on identity gaps in hospital settings.
“FaceTec is honored to be working with Project Lifesaver to enhance the ability of first responders to identify individuals who have become lost or disoriented,” said Owen McShane, the company’s vice president of government relations. “UR Codes provide a secure, cost-effective means of accessing an individual’s identity information, emergency contact information and specific needs.”
Trevor Chaplick, FaceTec’s chief legal officer and vice president for corporate development, said the work was done with Project Lifesaver directly. “We have worked closely with Gene Saunders and the Project Lifesaver team to adapt UR Codes to their locator bracelet so that anyone in a community can now be empowered to assist first responders to find and identify at-risk individuals who have gone missing,” he said.
Saunders, the founder and chief executive of Project Lifesaver International, said the codes address a gap in how quickly a participant can be identified once found. “Project Lifesaver and FaceTec, working together with the UR Codes, will considerably broaden our member agencies’ ability to quickly and safely identify located individuals and return them home,” he said.
Two New York sheriffs described using the same technology for a different purpose, on law enforcement credentials rather than on bracelets. Saratoga County Sheriff Jeff Brown said his agency has been using FaceTec for its HR 218 and retiree identity cards for some time, and that “the UR Codes have brought them to the next level of security.”
Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple set out the credential case in more detail. “A UR Code on sheriffs’ IDs lets partner agencies, businesses, or citizens instantly verify a credential is current and unrevoked, reducing impersonation and speeding up verification,” he said. “It’s also useful for retirees, letting anyone quickly confirm active HR 218 (LEOSA) qualification status without a phone call or paperwork.” HR 218, the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, allows qualified serving and retired officers to carry concealed firearms across state lines.
FaceTec licensed the UR Code software to Project Lifesaver at no cost and in perpetuity.
FaceTec was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in the United States, with staff in the UK, Brazil, Portugal, Mexico and Canada. It builds 3D face liveness and matching software, and says it ran more than 4 billion 3D liveness checks over the past 12 months. The technology has been tested independently: it achieved Level 4 security certification last September and completed the full Level 1 to 5 liveness and injection attack suite in December. It reached 50 issued patents this month with a grant covering autonomous authentication nodes.
McShane will moderate a panel on law enforcement use of UR Codes at Identity Week America on September 2, with Apple, Saunders and FaceTec education outreach coordinator Mike Zurlo taking part.
Sources: FaceTec via PR Newswire
–
By Ji-seo Kim and Alex Perala
