FBI certifies BI2 Technologies multi-modal biometric mobile ID device

B12 Technologies’ Mobile Offender Recognition and Information System, otherwise known as MORIS, recently received a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) certification for its fingerprint module using smartphones.

The FBI certified that MORIS fingerprint system meets the specifications set in FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) Image Quality Specifications (IQS) and is in compliance with the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) initiatives. It is listed in the EBTS Appendix F Mobile ID SAP 10 using Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Single Finger Capture Device Specifications.

Sean G. Mullin, president and CEO of BI2 Technologies said: “We are honored and pleased to receive this important certification from the FBI for MORIS. MORIS is the world’s only fully integrated, multi-modal biometric (fingerprint, iris and facial recognition) Smartphone-based device listed on the FBI’s Certified Product Listing.”

MORIS is a handheld biometric device and software app that turns the iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S into a biometric device that police can use to identify people based on iris, face or fingerprint. It costs about $3,000 but the biometric feature saves the police the long trip to the station and helps ID the suspect on the spot. After an officer snaps a photo of a suspect’s face, scans the iris, or take prints with MORIS’s built-in fingerprint scanner, using AuthenTec’s TCS1 TouchChip fingerprint sensor, the phone wirelessly and securely attempts to find a biometric match by linking with databases of existing criminal justice records.

Mullin states: “MORIS is amazing and the potential uses and applications are almost limitless. Today, MORIS combines nearly instantaneous identification results to authorized law enforcement officials by capturing a digital image of an individual’s iris, face or fingerprint, transmitting and comparing those images over a secure wireless network to previously entered data. If a match is found, MORIS provides identity confirmation and previous criminal history in a matter of seconds from virtually anywhere.”

Gone are the days of taking a picture and scanning it into a computer in a police cruiser. The new mobile phone-based system, which is portable and hassle-free, can do all of this in a matter of seconds.

Is the price of this new technology worth the benefit in terms of increased speed?

Article Topics

facial recognition  |  fingerprint  |  government  |  identity management  |  iris recognition  |  law enforcement  |  military  |  mobile scanners  |  multi-modal biometrics engine  |  smartphones  |  software