Illinois to become Real ID compliant in 2019

Photo: Office of the Illinois Secretary of State

The Real ID Act, passed by Congress in 2005, is intended to prevent identity fraud; to ensure that a person presenting an ID is who they say they are. Real ID compliant driver's licenses and ID's feature anti-counterfeit technology, such as the holograms appearing on some state licenses.

Currently 29 states are compliant, plus the District of Columbia. For a list of compliant states, visit: https://www.dhs.gov/real-id

As of Oct. 1, 2020, all air travelers will need to have a Real ID compliant ID to fly, or else they'll be required to present an additional accepted form of identification. For a list of additional acceptable forms of ID, visit: 
https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification

Illinois is currently operating under an extension valid through Oct. 10, 2018. By that date, the state expects to have filed for certification, and plans to start issuing Real IL compliant driver's licenses and ID's in January, 2019. To apply for a Real ID license, IL residents will need to bring in proof of identity, proof of Social Security Number, and proof of address.

According to Nathan Maddox, senior legal advisor at the Illinois Secretary of State's office, Illinois residents are not required to apply for a Real ID. Per Maddox, "If you do not travel in the air, you do not go to federal facilities, or you have a passport and do not want to bother getting a REAL ID, you can certainly get by with just a standard driver's license or identification card." 

Those in Illinois planning air travel this fall (after Oct. 10) will require additional ID. This might be a good time to apply for or renew a passport. The cost for a first time applicant to apply for a passport is $110, plus a $25 application fee. Passports can be applied for at many post offices, and some court houses and libraries. For a link to find a passport facility near you, visit:  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/requirements/where-to-apply.html


Illinois expected to file for REAL ID compliance

From the Illinois News Network, Feb 1, 2018


What You Need to Know About the New ID Law and Travel

By Shivani Vora, Nov. 8, 2017,  NY Times Online


Illinois seeking one more REAL ID extension

By Doug Finke, Sep. 2, 2017 , for the State Journal-Register


Accurate Biometrics

Practical solutions for fingerprint collection and processing

Can your fingerprint be used to steal your identity?

It’s not difficult to capture a fingerprint, good prints can even be captured with a camera. If someone has your fingerprint, can they gain unlock your phone, laptop computer, or the apps you’ve locked with your print? 

They could guess which finger you use for authentication, and then make an exacting, expensive mold of your fingerprint to be of high enough quality. They would need to steal or have access to your device. And then they would have to deal with the advanced encryption methods used in modern mobile devices.

When you set up your account, a unique algorithm creates a template of your fingerprint. Your print is tested against your locally stored fingerprint template to unlock your device. With this security in place, the difficulty of using a fingerprint copy to unlock your devices and apps is very high. But there is still another level of security.

The next layer of biometric security is liveness detection. An advanced hardware solution recently on the marketplace is the Apple iPhone 8 with 3-D facial recognition for authentication. It’s expected to be 10 years, though, before this type of liveness hardware detection trickles down to lower end devices for the majority of smartphone owners. Right now, only about half of smartphones and devices even have fingerprint detection.

To bridge the gap, solutions are being sought using Artificial Intelligence software. AI is currently being used in self-driving cars and voice assistants. A type of AI, machine learning, is already heavily used in biometric security, helping to prevent bank and commercial fraud. 

The next goal is using AI software in liveness detection; AI algorithms looking for uniqueness such as skin texture, three-dimensionality, the way a person moves the device, even a reflection in the eye. Involving an AI software-based solution would be more universal; it could be adapted to work on billions of smartphones already in use. And could be put in place much sooner than a hardware-based solution.


Biometric Mythbusters: Do Stolen Fingerprints Mean Identity Theft?

By Contributors for TechFinancials, Feb.6, 2018



Is AI the Missing Link in Biometric Security?

By Kevin Alan Tussy, Aug. 14, 2017, a Techonomy Exclusive



Accurate Biometrics

Practical solutions for fingerprint collection and processing.

Why did fingerprints evolve?

Photo credit: Monty Rakusen/Getty Images/Cultura R

The Guardian recently put forth a reader question for other readers to answer: Do fingerprints serve any evolutionary purpose? Although one reader’s suggestion that fingerprints evolved so that crime novel detectives would have a means of identifying criminals is entertaining, most people thought along the lines of fingerprints improving the grip to aid in climbing, similar to those of primates. (And other animals. Koala bears have unique fingerprints that are very difficult to differentiate from humans.) 

Scientific research from a 2009 study by Dr. Roland Ennos and a team of researchers from Manchester University actually found that fingerprints may hinder the grip on some surfaces. Testing with plastic cups, weight and acrylic glass found that with the rubberiness of skin, ridges actually reduced the friction needed to get a firm grip on smooth surfaces.

The team theorized that fingerprints may better suited to gripping rough surfaces. The ridges of fingerprints may project into the depressions of rough surfaces, providing a higher contact area. Another theory is that fingerprints make it easier to grip wet surfaces. Fingerprints allow a little water run off, similar to the tread of car tires. Friction fails on fingerprints with high levels of moisture, but it fails less quickly than with smooth skin.

Dr. Ennos has a preferred theory on the reason for the evolution of fingerprints. Fingerprints allow the skin to “deform” and thus reduce blistering. This is why we are more likely to blister on the smooth parts of our hand and feet rather than on ridged areas of skin like fingerpads, palms and soles.

A related evolutionary question is why do we have unique fingerprints. We may not know why, but there is research on how they develop. A scientific article in Circulation Research, AMA Journals, explains how the ridges, loops and whorls of fingerprint patterns are formed. Compressive stresses act upon the skin “like the buckling of land masses under compression.” This is why even twins have unique fingerprints.  As twins occupy different positions in the womb, the variations in stress and pressure are enough to create a slight difference in fingerprints. 


Do fingerprints serve any evolutionary purpose?

Published in The Guardian Lifestyle section, Jan. 29, 2018, theguardian.com


Get a grip! Blistering new evidence on why we have fingerprints...

Published in the Manchester University News section, May 29, 2009, manchester.ac.uk


Fingerprints are unlikely to increase the friction of primate fingerpads

Published by Peter H. Warman and A. Roland Ennos, Journal of Experimental Biology 2009 


Wet but not slippery: boundary friction in tree frog adhesive toe pads

Published by W. Federle, et al, Oct. 22, 2006, in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface


Mechanical Control of Tissue Morphogenesis

By Parth Patwari and Richard T. Lee, Circulation Research, American Heart Association Journals, Published Aug. 1, 2008

Accurate Biometrics

Practical solutions for fingerprint collection and processing.

Biometric Trends for 2018: increased use, advanced technology

In 2017, global acceptance of biometric security technologies increased in many areas including banking, retail, healthcare, airports and the public sphere. The use of biometrics in consumer devices, such as the introduction of FaceID in Apple’s iPhone X, helps drive consumer awareness and acceptance. 

The use of biometric technology will continue to expand rapidly in 2018. Here are four trends expected to show fast growth in the use and adoption of advanced new technology:

1) Awareness and acceptance of biometrics will continue to grow in the mainstream consumer mind

The use of biometric technologies in consumer products will continue to grow and drive acceptance in consumers. This will also advance accuracy and security.  Facial recognition will become a mainstream method for mobile payments, retail shopping, and secure access and use in general.

2) Corporations will increase biometric adoption with greater integration and collaboration

2018 will see increased collaboration across industries, especially biometrics and security. Driving the integration is the standardization and proliferation of cloud-based solutions. This has enabled various solution providers such as smart cameras, access control systems and biometrics to operate in a unified interface. Consumers are demanding fully integrated solutions that are simply managed. We’ll continue to see companies working together to maximize the potential of new technologies.

3) The use of biometrics will continue to expand in the healthcare industry

Biometrics are commonly used to identify hospital personnel and patients, and control access to areas of hospitals and healthcare facilities. Biometrics will be used increasingly to authenticate and allow healthcare professionals access to patient records and medical history in real time. This will enable them to check that patients are getting accurate treatment and medication and help avoid mix-ups and errors in treatments and medications.

Non-invasive or “touch-free” biometrics such as facial recognition and gait recognition will become prevalent in healthcare facilities, health clubs and wellness facilities to identity employees, patients and members and help protect health and hygiene.

4) Biometric use in airports will expand beyond passport control

The number of biometric passports in circulation has reached 800 million. The use of biometric scanners at airport check-in is becoming more common. The next advance is “in-motion” biometrics that will identify passengers without them having to slow down or stop for ID. Rather than showing multiple tokens at check-in, boarding and customs, passengers will themselves be their own, single identity token.



2018 biometric predictions: advanced biometric technologies take off

By Arie Melamed, Jan. 23, 2018, for BiometricUpdate.com


Accurate Biometrics

Practical solutions for fingerprint collection and processing.

PIN & signature free: New biometric fingerprint-based VISA card

Visa has announced trials of a new EMV* dual interface (on-card biometric chip and contactless enabled) payment card. The U.S. pilot program is with the Mountain American Credit Union which serves five central states. “The world is quickly moving toward a future that will be free of passwords, as consumers realize how biometric technologies can make their lives easier,” says Jack Forestell, Visa’s head of global merchant solutions.

For biometric authentication, a cardholder places a finger on the sensor. The fingerprint is checked against a fingerprint template that was created upon enrollment. The card has built-in green and red lights to indicate a successful or unsuccessful match. The fingerprint template is stored locally on the card for data security and cardholder privacy.

The card can also be used at contactless enabled terminals, allowing the cardholder to tap and pay quickly. Either way, fast convenient payment is made without having to sign a receipt or remember a PIN number. The biometric card is compatible with existing payment terminals that accept contactless- or chip-based payments.

Visa sponsored a recent survey of 1,000 Canadians. The results were favorable towards biometric technology.

* 59% of consumers were familiar with biometric technology
* 85% were interested in using biometrics to verify identity or make payments
* 65% found biometric technology easier to use than passwords
* 57% found biometric technology faster to use than passwords

*EMV (Europay/MasterCard/Visa) refers to a global standard of smart debit/credit payment cards, and the payment terminals and automatic teller machines that can accept them.


Press Here! Visa Begins Pilots of New Biometric Payment Card

Published by BusinessWire, Jan. 14, 2018


Canadians hate passwords, using them wrong, ready for biometrics instead: Visa

By Eric Emin Wood, Jan. 11, 2018 for itbusiness.ca


Accurate Biometrics
Practical solutions for fingerprint collection and processing.

Postal News – using biometrics and technology to improve security and service

Informed Delivery photo courtesy USPS

With 600,000 employees and over 150 billion pieces of mail to process and deliver in a year, improving technology is vital for the United States Post Office (USPS) to manage employees and meet customer needs. Last year, USPS introduced a new service, Informed Delivery, with a cell phone app that gives users digital previews of household mail and easy tracking of package deliveries.

Through new applications and new verification systems – from two-factor, to behavioral, to biometric – the post office has improved delivery accuracy and overall security. 

The USPS is well beyond the manual entry of identification information. For package delivery, postal carriers use bar code scanning/tracking devices with geo-location and frequency distribution analysis that makes sure that the device is in “the right hands at the right location in order to do the right transaction.” A warning message pops up on the device if package activity doesn’t match the delivery plan.

At postal headquarters and in retail stores, two-factor authentication to authorize computer users. Besides password protection, hard or soft digital tokens are used for authentication, such as a 6-digit code sent to a cell phone or other verification device.

The USPS is using fingerprint and facial biometrics in partnership with the State Department and other government agencies. The post office benefits by securely validated employee background checks. On its part, the USPS is working on an identity management strategy that it will offer to other government agencies, as well as expanding its biometric data collection. The post office is in a unique position to gather facial capture data from the 5 million passport applications it processes annually. 



USPS keeping identities safe one delivery at a time

By Steff Thomas, Jan. 9, 2018, for Federal News Radio


New USPS Service Gives You A Peek Into Your Mailbox Before You Get Home

By Cecilia Mazanec, Mar. 27, 2017, for npr.org

Accurate Biometrics

Practical solutions for fingerprint collection and processing.

Facial recognition speeds check-in, boarding at Australian airport

Photo credit: Brisbane Airport

Air New Zealand began facial recognition trials last March at Brisbane Airport using Smart Path technology provided by SITA. Passengers checked in at self-service kiosks that used facial biometrics to create a “single secure token” linked to the passenger’s travel documents. Boarding passengers walked through an automatic gate using facial recognition technology to verify that the correct passenger was boarding. No printed pass, passport or other travel document was required. The result? A 70% reduction in processing times for check-in and boarding.

According to SITA Asia Pacific president Sumesh Patel, passengers surveyed want a fast, easy and secure airport travel experience. The challenge is reconciling passenger demand for an efficient, seamless journey with the need for increased airport security.

SITA's 2017 Air Transport IT Trends Insights report found airports projecting to spend $8.4 billion USD on their 2017 IT budgets, a 20% increase from the $7 billion spent in 2016. Airlines planned to spend $24.3 billion on IT technology in 2017, an increase of 11% from 2016.

SITA found 97% of airlines planned to offer self-service check-in, boarding, and mobile flight status options by 2020. The increase in automated or self-service comes at a time when the number of airline travelers is expected to reach 7 billion by 2035 – double the 3.5 billion current number of travelers. The bulk of that growth is expected to be in the Asia Pacific region.

Brisbane airport is looking ahead to using biometric technology for automated baggage check-in and border crossing. The self-service baggage drop system is already in place and begins testing this quarter. Planning on the use of biometric technology in border crossing is underway with immigration authorities. 


Facial recognition trial saving time at Brisbane Airport

By Jordan Chong, Jan. 4, 2018, for Australian Aviation


Air Transport IT Trends Insights 2017

SITA surveys and reports, www.sita.aero

Accurate Biometrics

Practical solutions for fingerprint collection and processing.