DigitalPersona launches new line of mobile, PIV certified fingerprint sensors

DigitalPersona Inc., a global provider of biometric authentication and access management solutions, announced a new generation of biometric fingerprint sensors designed for mobile identification devices, which will be available to order starting November 15.

These new devices combine low power, compact size and PIV standards compliance for voting, benefits-checking and micro-finance applications.

“Smart ID is pleased to team up with DigitalPersona to bring their new PIV fingerprint reader to the Indian market,” said Nirmal Prakash, managing director at Smart Identity Devices Pvt. Ltd. “DigitalPersona’s high-volume manufacturing experience makes them the ideal supplier of high performance, low cost PIV fingerprint readers for India’s UID project.”

PIV stands for “Personal Identity Verification” and was implemented in 2004 as explained on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) website:

“On August 27, 2004, the President signed Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), entitled “Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors. HSPD-12 required the development and implementation of a government-wide standard for secure and reliable forms of identification for Federal employees and contractors. As required by HSPD-12, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed Federal Information Processing Standard 201 (FIPS 201) titled “Personal Identity Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors” in coordination with other government agencies and the private sector. Subsequently, NIST issued several special publications, in support of FIPS 201 to enable interoperable implementations.”

The new U.are.U 5100 line of fingerprint modules and readers enable high-efficiency and standards-compliant biometrics for handheld ID terminals, which are being increasingly used around the world.

One example of the U.are.U line in action is in Brazil, where more than half a million electronic voting machines were used a few weeks ago in Brazil’s municipal elections, as reported by Biometric Update.

“Countries creating national biometric databases are turning to mobile ID terminals as a way to provide fraud-free distribution of entitlements and social services,” said Chris Trytten, director of product management at DigitalPersona. “Vendor options for integrating fingerprint biometrics have been limited because of power consumption, size, durability and standards compliance. The U.are.U 5100 family of fingerprint sensors enables standards-based biometric mobile ID solutions to be smaller, power friendly, longer lasting and more affordable.”

The new PIV-standard U.are.U 5100 Fingerprint Modul and a desktop peripheral reader model will be demonstrated at the Biometrics 2012 Exhibition in London this week.

Article Topics

access management  |  biometric authentication  |  financial services  |  fingerprint biometric technologies  |  fingerprint sensor  |  mobile scanners  |  PIV cards  |  social security  |  standards  |  voting