Biometrics contracts span immigration, law enforcement and travel tools

New contracts for biometrics with immigration, law enforcement and airport authorities are generating millions of dollars for a handful of providers among the most read stories of the week on Biometric Update. ID-Pal is powering online immigration status renewals for Ireland, and Canada is looking for a supply of scanners for people entering its system, while SITA is rolling out kiosks and electronic gates in Thailand. Substantial U.S. law enforcement biometrics contracts were signed by a familiar player in the sector, Idemia NSS, and a provider better known for serving a range of other verticals, Tech5. Aware announced it is parting ways with one of the industry’s big-name executives.

Most viewed biometrics news this week

Biometrics are gaining ground on passports as the airport credential of choice, but at different paces in different regions. The 2024 Global Passenger Survey from IATA and a Pymnts survey indicate that travel applications of digital wallets are ready for people, and people are ready for them. Before Annet Steenbergen was an advisor to the EU’s Digital Wallet Consortium, she was chair of the Aruba Happy Flow Board. Steenbergen says legislation insists on the use of physical documents because it has not caught up to current technological capabilities.

Canada is planning to procure biometric scanners to enroll people into its immigration system, at a price tag of anywhere from $18 million to $72 million. Responses to an RFI for on innovations in face and fingerprint collection and best practices for safeguarding the integrity of enrollments are due by December 3.

ID-Pal has been selected by Ireland to support online renewals of immigration permissions with its identity verification technology. The company says it has helped Finset, an auto financing platform, block fraud totaling almost $1 million since its ID-Detect was implemented for KYC and AML checks.

Thailand has chosen face biometrics kiosks and security gates from SITA for deployment at half a dozen airports. The rollout is aligned with IATA’s One ID initiative, and accompanied by a deployment of SITA Smart Path and Flex at maritime terminals, which is also expected to support One ID biometrics eventually.

SITA already plays a part in most airport journeys, and a new partnership with Idemia is intended to increase interoperability for biometrics and digital identity in the travel sector. Indicio is contributing privacy-by-design expertise to the “Digital Travel Ecosystem” envisioned, which will be based on the creation of a framework to allow digital identities to be used without integrations between issuers and verifiers.

Idemia NSS has won a one-year, $6.4 million contract with the U.S. Department of Justice that could grow to $44.3 million over 10 years. The company will upgrade DOJ’s Justice Biometric Identity Service (JBIS), which covers 420,000 biometric transactions a year from 5,000 workstations.

Tech5 has expanded its portfolio with the launch of a software suite designed for law enforcement agencies. The modular biometrics platform includes face, fingerprint and tattoo recognition capabilities, and an app for contactless fingerprint capture in the field without a dedicated scanner. The company has also won its first major American police contract, striking a $54 million deal to supply Virginia State Police with livescan biometrics software for 15 years.

Aware CEO and President Robert Eckel is departing the company at the end of the calendar year, after five years in the role, and Aware has begun searching for his successor. Eckel remains a board member at the International Biometrics + Identity Association (IBIA). Aware also reported gains in recurring revenue and an expanded market reach in Q3.

New Zealand has new rules for digital ID, MFA and biometrics requirements for four levels of authentication and an accreditation system to boot. The Digital Identity Services Trust Framework entered force this week, and sets up future launches like mobile driver’s licenses, bank IDs and trade certifications.

Kazakhstan is investing in digital public infrastructure with a series of public-private partnerships, such as a joint venture with National Information Technologies JSC and BTS Digital to build a national biometric authentication system. The country’s digital identity system is already widely used for access to government services.

A review of the country’s progress on the fifth anniversary of the current eGov Mobile app shows its winding path since 2012. The app has been downloaded 9.5 million times and makes carrying physical documents unnecessary, the government says.

Young Instagram users attempting to raise their registered age will have to pass a facial age estimation check by Yoti or upload an ID, as Meta attempts to improve its image. Yoti has also been examined as a case study for AI adoption by trade group techUK.

Please let us know about any thought leadership pieces, interviews or other content we should share with the people in biometrics and the digital identity community in the comments below or through social media.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  government purchasing  |  week in review