The Memphis International Airport has deployed a state-of-the-art ID-validation system from New Hampshire-based AssureTec Systems.
The airport has already deployed the system as part of its worker credentialing program, helping it to meet the Transportation Security Administration's national mandate that airport authorities validate at least two forms of ID before issuing security badges to prospective workers.
Officials in Memphis selected the AssureTec system based on its ability to authenticate a person's identity by examining the broad range of security features contained in thousands of types of domestic and international ID documents -- including driver's licenses, passports, visas and national ID cards.
The airport will use the system whenever it issues identification badges to new employees or renews badges for existing employees --including baggage handlers, technicians, maintenance workers and contractors.
“Given the number of IDs and different types of documents that we need to examine, it is extremely important to have a system that will efficiently and effectively help us ensure authenticity,“ says Walter T. White, Director of Operations & Public Safety, Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority. “The AssureTec system is a terrific example of an innovative technology that greatly advances this goal.“
AssureTec's patented system, known as AssureID, consists of a document reader, a document database and a classification software package, which act together to validate a wide variety of documents, while also analyzing the security information contained on each document, including biometric data like photo images and fingerprints. The entire process takes less than five seconds per document.
“Organizations charged with conducting background checks need to be absolutely sure that the process is driven by an ID conveying an authentic identity,“ says R. Bruce Reeves, CEO of AssureTec Systems.“ The AssureTec solution radically mitigates this risk by ensuring that so-called 'breeder ID documents' are totally legitimate. In fact, the system validates dozens of embedded security features to make sure the documents are genuine. It can even use biometrics to compare photos on the ID documents with the people presenting them.“
In addition to the deployment in Memphis, AssureTec's systems have also been deployed by the technology-integration giant BearingPoint as part of its $12-million contract to develop a transportation worker credentialing program for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. The program, commonly known as TWIC -- or Transportation Worker Identification Credential -- is a multi-phase initiative to improve security at seaports, airports, rail, pipeline, trucking and mass transit facilities.
Moreover, AssureTec's systems have been utilized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of State, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles and the Chilean government -- as well as national and regional U.S. banks.
Additionally, AssureTec recently signed a memo-of-understanding with Smiths Heimann Biometrics GmbH, part of the Detection Division of the British Smiths Group plc. The memo provides for the two companies to cooperatively develop and market advanced-technology ID-validation products.
