U.S. airports to upgrade biometric security solution

Cross Match Technologies said it will provide 10 U.S. airports with its Guardian 10-print biometric fingerprint-scanning solution under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security’s US-VISIT program, which is designed to keeps tabs on visitors entering and leaving the country. The new deployments replace a two-finger system that currently is in place. The airports serve the following cities: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Miami, New York, Orlando, San Francisco and Washington.

Currently, the U.S. military is using the 10-fingerprint system in Iraq and Afghanistan; scans are uploaded via satellite and compared with an anti-terrorist database maintained by the military in Arlington, Va. For now, however, the systems deployed to the aforementioned airports will use wired connections to upload scans to US-VISIT and FBI databases.

The 10-fingerprint system provides more data that can be used to identify those who are security risks and, perhaps more importantly, those who aren’t, said Cross Match spokeswoman Pam Rembaum. “There are thousands of people who have similar prints, and they’re set aside as they come across the borders, basically for further checks,” Rembaum said. “Being able to match 10 prints gives you a better base, so you’re not having to hold people that you shouldn’t be holding.”