Frontex updates document fraud detection system with new technical standards

European border agency Frontex is updating the False and Authentic Documents Online (FADO) system with new technical standards aimed at improving the identification of false travel and identity documents.

The FADO system, which has operated since 1998, allows EU member states to share images of genuine and fraudulent documents to combat irregular migration and document fraud. The system is now being upgraded to the European Border and Coast Guard False and Authentic Documents Online (EBCG FADO) system.

The Frontex Centre of Excellence for Combating Document Fraud published the new standards on Thursday. The document lays out requirements for capturing and storing digital images of documents, including passports, ID cards and visas, in order to ensure high-resolution data quality.

“This is more than a technical refresh,” Frontex says in a statement. The agency’s goal is to build a unified reference point for document-check practitioners: border guards, forensic specialists and technology developers.

“The result is a common language for document security across Europe and beyond,” it says. “With everyone working to the same benchmark, authorities can detect forgeries more effectively, while developers can fine-tune tools and systems for operational use.”

With the new standards, Frontex hopes to solve both the issue of increasingly sophisticated document forgeries as well as data gaps and inconsistencies between different countries, says the agency.

Frontex is participating in other projects related to detecting document fraud, including iMars (image manipulation attack resolving solutions), which focuses on face morphing spoof attacks against biometric systems.

Article Topics

border security  |  digital ID  |  document verification  |  False and Authentic Documents Online (FADO)  |  Frontex  |  identity document