Ukraine deploys biometrics at the border, on the battlefield

It is, if you will, the opposite of liveness detection: the government of Ukraine is launching an experimental program that uses biometrics to identify the war dead, according to a report from UNN.

Spearheaded by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the project will utilize the National Biometric Verification and Identification System (NBVIS) and the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) for “the identification of bodies (remains) of persons killed (deceased) as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, using biometric data.”

Current identification methods, such as DNA, can take time, leaving loved ones waiting in distress. The ministry says “the use of fingerprints and facial images will significantly reduce identification time and provide a more complete and systematic accounting of the deceased.”

The full process will involve dactyloscopy and photographing of the bodies of deceased, entering the biometric data into the NBVIS and AFIS using an application programming interface and checking it against available biometric information arrays.

Biometrics at play in border control, chip authentication

As Ukraine has dealt with ongoing war, border control has taken on increased importance. Poland is testing a new biometric control system at its Ukrainian border in the Lviv region. According to messages on Telegraph, facial recognition and fingerprinting will apply to both entry into Poland and exit from Ukraine.

With biometrics being increasingly integral to border management, the Transnational Threats Department of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) conducted a specialized professional training course for four Ukrainian forensic document experts. According to the OSCE, the session covered the basics of cryptography, the science of secure communication, and how digital authentication methods ensure the integrity of digital chips.

Per a release, the sessions also featured an introduction to the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Country Signing Certification Authority (CSCA), a central component of the global Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for ePassports, allowing countries to digitally sign and verify the authenticity of electronic travel documents.

The program concluded with a certification in biometric chip authentication.

Article Topics

AFIS  |  biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  border security  |  facial recognition  |  Ukraine