Mega Database - For All Thai Citizens

BANGKOK: -- A MOVE to integrate state information databases into one data network is underway to spur national development and manage security more efficiently, the just-retired secretary-general of the National Security Council Anusit Kunakorn has said.

He revealed this during an interview on NOW channel's "the 26th Hour''.

An "electronic superhighway network" formally known as the Government Information Network (GIN) - or Super GIN - has been established to help the government boost economic growth, assist with natural disasters, tackle illegal trade, criminal activity and manage security issues, said Anusit, who retired at the end of last month.

IDentification Authentication - Denver and Nebraska police using Morpho fingerprint identification devices

The Denver police department will be equipped with Morpho’s MorphoIDent handheld fingerprint devices to help officers identify suspects who lie about their identity, according to a report by CBS Denver.

The City of Denver announced the $260,000 purchase of the fingerprint identification technology as part of its 2016 budget.

National Database - Hungarian government proposes storing biometric data of citizens

October 1, 2015 - 

Hungary’s Interior Ministry proposed a new bill last week that creates an authority to oversee the storing of facial data of citizens based on photos from their identification documents, according to a report by Budapest Business Journal.

The proposal for the bill states that the Hungarian government would be able to provide this biometric information to Hungarian law enforcement authorities, such as police and intelligence services, on a request basis.

Hands Down. Biometrics Aims to Make Your Life Easier.

It is amazing how quickly you get used to a car that starts as long as you have the key somewhere on your person. When you switch vehicles, it becomes a nuisance to fish the key out and insert it into the ignition. Biometrics aims to make it even easier. Why carry around a key (or an access card), if a computer can uniquely identify you?

Money in a Cashless World

While in developed countries money has been digital for some time, for the rest of the world cash is still the undisputed king.

Globally 85 per cent of consumer transactions are done with cold hard cash, whereas in Australia we’ve seen cash transactions drop as low as 14 per cent. So, with the ever-increasing adoption of mobile technologies, will we see the end of traditional paper money?

Christians in Surigao refuse biometrics registration

More than 300 voters, all members of the religious sect Body of Christ in the remote village of Hamburger Hills, Barangay Gata, San Agustin, Surigao del Sur, have not submitted themselves to biometric registration with the Commission on Elections because their religious belief does not allow them to have their picture taken with their iris in direct contact with the camera.

Comelec’s provincial supervisor, lawyer Ernie Palanan, and San Agustin municipal election officer Evelyn Bato said the sect members, including their leader Nilo Rolloque, refused computer-generated procedures on their iris would mark it with “666.”

E-Government | Emirates ID Now Integrated into Windows

Just a few years ago, most peoples lives were not affected by biometrics. Now biometrics are being integrated into many products. Apple has made news lately by integrating Apple Pay into its new smartphones.  Apple Pay is a mobile payment platform that uses a biometric identification to verify the payer. 

The most prevalent desktop operating system in the world by a wide margin is Microsoft Windows. The United Arab Emirates have now integrated their biometric ID card, the Emirates ID, into the Windows operating system. With this integration, the cardholder's identity will be biometrically verified. They will be able to gain access to government services and even sign government documents online.

Number of a Man | Biometrics Institute proposes biometric trust mark

The Biometrics Institute has unveiled its proposals for a ‘trust mark’ system to boost consumer and public confidence in systems using biometric technology.

The Institute made its announcement at this week’sBiometrics 2014 conference in London. Ted Dunstone, Chair, Technical Committee, Biometrics Institute, told Planet Biometrics:

 “The Biometrics Institute trust mark aims to build trust for consumers and the public around the use of biometric services and devices. It will do this by the establishment of a privacy and trust framework to give confidence that your biometrics are secure and that all reasonable privacy considerations have been adopted.' 

Banking on Biometrics | ADCB is the world’s first bank to offer voice authentication in 3 languages

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank "ADCB", a U.A.E. major banks, will soon offer voice biometrics as a means to authenticate customers and allow them to perform banking transactions via phone or mobile devices more easily and securely. With this, ADCB is the first bank in the world to offer voice biometrics in Arabic, English and Hindi. 

MasterCard adds fingerprint scanner to credit cards

Biometrics, Are you in the net?

MasterCard has made a big step forward toward requiring biometric identification in order to use its card to make purchases. They have developed the world's first credit card equipped with a fingerprint scanner. We are getting closer to the time when people will be required to have the mark of the beast in order to buy and sell.

Number of the Beast | Venezuela government looking to biometrics to prevent food smuggling

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro announced that the government will soon introduce fingerprint scanners at supermarkets in an effort to ration individuals’ food purchases and prevent food smuggling, according to a report by The Guardian.

The move is part of the country-wide initiative to combat chronic food shortages, which the government blames on smugglers who purchase cheap goods and resell them for up to four times their original price to countries across the border, specifically in Colombia.

This is already the government’s second attempt to implement a biometric identification system to track and limit food purchases, following a program introduced earlier this year that asked citizens to voluntarily use a similar system in government-run shops but it failed to move beyond its trial phase.

The new identification system will use fingerprint scanners to prevent Venezuelans from repeatedly visiting the supermarket to purchase overwhelmingly large amounts of food.

“We are creating a biometric system … to function in all distribution and retail systems, public and private,” Maduro said in a television address. “This will be – like the fingerprint scan we use in our electoral system – a perfect anti-fraud system.”

“The biometric system will be perfect,” he said, calling it an “anti-fraud blessing.”

The order has been given to the superintendency of prices to establish a biometric system in all supermarkets and commercial and distribution chain networks of the republic,” Mr Maduro said.

He offered no information about how the system will work or when it will come into effect.

So far, the proposed fingerprinting system has seen a predominate backlash from opposition parties such as Justice First, comparing the plan to communist rationing.

“This is nothing less than the Cuban rationing book,” said Alfonso Marquina of the opposition Justice First party. “The government can’t presume to tell a family what it’s going to eat.

Smuggling of goods, such as gas, into neighbouring countries has become so widespread that Venezuela recently closed its 1,400-mile border with Colombia every night to prevent cases of smuggling.

Many critics, including the Colombian government, believe that the new biometric identification system will not resolve the issue of food shortages.
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It's in the Hand | Pay by swiping your hand: Quixter makes a splash at PayExpo

The rise of smartphones, cryptocurrencies and a host of other technologies has brought a vast amount of innovation to the world of payment systems.

However, a new product invented by Swedish engineer Fredrik Leifland, has made quite the splash at London's PayExpo conference.

Leifland's device turns the customers hand into a physical basis for payment. Forget contactless payments, Quixter uses a biometric identifier for payments.

Bank with the Beast | Barclays creates a new cashless way for customers to pay with a wristband holding their bank details

LEAVE your card, wallet or cash at home — wristbands are the latest way to pay. 

 

British financial services giant Barclays has created a new cashless way for customers to complete a transaction by wearing a wristband containing their bank details which can be scanned at the check-out.

The latest innovation is being trialled in the UK and follows a flock of others worldwide technologies to recently hit the global stage.

Biometric Voter Registration | Be Careful What You Wish For

On May 29 officials in the Philippines announced that it would be necessary to be registered with the country's biometric program in order to vote in the 2016 election. This makes the Philippine Islands the latest in a growing group of countries that requires biometric registration in order to exercise this fundamental right.

Several countries including Nigeria, Yemen (funded by the UN), Ghana and Kenya have required biometric registration in order to vote. The reason given for this is to prevent voter fraud. Whether this works or not is questionable. Also, the cost and complexity of maintaining and using a biometric database creates an entirely new set of problems that may eclipse the problem of fraud.

Visa of the Beast | Biometric Visa Required for Saudi Travel

Beginning on May 26, the Government of Saudi Arabia began requiring a biometric identification in order to qualify for a visa. The biometric requirement is valid for all travel including business travel, but its greatest impact will be for religious pilgrimages. The Hajj and the Umrah are both pilgrimages that are taken by Muslims to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The attendance at the Hajj in 2012 was almost 3.2 Million persons. Attendance was down in 2013 due to fear of the MERS virus. All able bodied Muslims are required to attend Hajj once in their life. Now their worship will require biometrics.

One Number to Rule Them All | Bank Verification Number eases your burden of carrying documents

"And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead," Rev. 13:16

The burden of carrying driver’s license, international passport, national identity card, and other documentation that identifies you will be a thing of the past as soon as you get your Bank Verification Number (BVN).

"Even those who are not educated or who do not have identity cards to open accounts with the banks can do so seamlessly.

With Banks Verification Number you will not be burdened with the issue of fraud, identity theft and other financial crimes."

CBN gives banks 18 months for customers’ biometric registration...Then What?

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has given all banks 18 months to begin and conclude the biometric reg¬istration of all customers across the country.

The apex bank weekend launched the Bank Verifi¬cation Number (BVN) for biometrics identification of customers in the financial industry aimed at revolu¬tionising the payment sys¬tem in the country.

Reaching the People with Drones

UAE official delivery drone

The United Arab Emirates with their Emirates ID program are the owners of the largest biometric database in the world. They seek to be the leaders in all things e-government and are aggressively adopting new technology to further this goal. One of the technologies that they are now adopting is drone technology, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles. They are seeking to use drones in all sorts of government functions.

One of their first projects is to develop a drone to be used as a delivery vehicle. They have developed a battery operated four rotor drone about 20 inches wide with a small cargo compartment on top. They intend to deliver licenses, small packages and documents including the aforementioned Emirates ID card. And how will the unmanned drone verify that the package is being delivered to the correct party? It will be by biometrics, of course. The drone will be outfitted with a retina scanner and a fingerprint scanner.  So the citizens will need to be biometrically registered in order to receive documents from the government.

Biometric Bitcoin

Bitcoins have been gaining in popularity recently with the need to have a global currency for peer to peer transactions. Security of the transactions and savings of the virtual currency are one of the things that are holding back the use of bitcoins. Recently, an anchorman on Bloomberg TV was robbed when he showed his bitcoin gift card on television for ten seconds. That was long enough for someone to scan the QR code on the certificate with their phone. 

Now a company called SmartMetric is bringing out a biometrically secured bitcoin payment card. According to the attached article from MENA financial network, offering a secure way to store and use bitcoins will greatly aid in the growth of bitcoin as a global currency.

DigitalPersona Marks China's Billion Plus Population

DigitalPersona has announced that its TouchChip TCS1 sensor is the only silicon sensor used in fingerprint readers certified by the Ministry of Public Security under general technical requirements for fingerprint capture device GA / T 1011-2012 for the China Resident Identity Card.

DigitalPersona says: “Miaxis Biometrics Co Ltd and Shandong Synthesis Electronic Technology Co Ltd — both Chinese manufacturers — have leveraged DigitalPersona’s silicon sensor to meet the certification requirements while bringing speed and economy to the fingerprint capture process.”