The most common way to identify people is through anatomical (face, iris and fingerprint) and behavioural (signature and bearing) characteristics. However, in some situations the primary biometric characteristics are not enough to identify a person. The characteristics may not be available, are difficult to acquire or the quality turns out to be insufficient. In these cases, soft biometrics can be used to narrow down the list of suspects and help to identify the person in question. A soft biometrics that is often used is the so-called SMT, which stands for scars, marks and tattoos.

Scars, marks and tattoos (SMT) are unique imprints on the skin. It provides more information than the traditional demographic indicators such as age, height, gender and race to identify a person. Especially tattoos can give a lot of information about the identity of a person. It can give indications to someone’s social status, religious beliefs, their personality and affiliations to a certain (criminal) group.

SMT has been successfully used by law enforcement agencies and forensics to identify suspects and victims. This is because of the growing popularity of tattoos and the impact they have on visual, pathological or trauma-based identification. It also helps that tattoos are deeply embedded in the skin and are often very hard to destroy. Therefore, they can be used in extreme situations where it is hard to identify people using the primary biometrics. An example would be the Tsunami in South East Asia in December of 2004. Other than the use of primary biometric characteristics, tattoos were also used to identify victims (Interpol, n.d.)*.

SMT modalities have known use cases in different fields such as: law inforcement, prison institutions and defense. However, this modality offers possibilities for other solutions as well. Interested in the use of SMT or curious about other solutions, please contact us and let’s see how we can help.

*Source: Intertpol. (n.d.). Disaster Victim Identification (DVI). Interpol. Retrieved October 1, 2021, from https://www.interpol.int/en/How-we-work/Forensics/Disaster-Victim-Identification-DVI

 

 

Today we celebrate International Identity Day at HSB. Although you might not have heard about International Identity day before, we are happy to know that you are reading this now. Hopefully, reading this post can be your first step in  understanding the importance of this day and might even inspire you to start celebrating this day yourself.

International Identity Day has been around since 2018 and is initiated by ID4Africa, an NGO that accompanies African nations on their journeys to develop robust and responsible identity ecosystems. They decided to celebrate this day on the 16th of September each year as to be a reference to the UN Sustainable development Goal 16.9:

“By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration.”

The main purpose of this day is to raise awareness about the important role of legal identity in empowering individuals to exercise their rights and responsibilities fairly and equitably in a modern society. Moreover, this is a perfect moment for people all over the world to reflect on the fact that still more than 1 billion people across the world do not have basic proof of identity*.

This is why we think it is important to celebrate International Identity Day. Not only because of the 1 billion people who lack basic proof, but also because there are many more people who have identity documents that are insecure or untrusted by service providers or live in countries where identification systems are unsuited for digitalization.

Legal identity is a birth right and not a privilege. Here, at HSB Identification, we work hard every day to ensure legal identity is accessible for everyone. We create solutions to help people around the world to identify themselves and enable them to exercise their rights to cross borders, vote, apply for a loan, use health care and receive education. Today we celebrate the progress we have made over the last 25 years and reflect on how we can become even better in creating more inclusive identity systems to close the gap of billions and reach the sustainable development goal. We are in this together, so we will do this together.

Happy International Identity Day everyone!

* source: Worldbank 2021

Everyone is unique. Not only by looks and character but also via their biometric information. Fingerprint recognition is one of the most used and known biometrics in the modern world. However, DNA is also a perfect candidate for the recognition of people. It is especially useful for the search of lost or missing family member(s) and within the criminal justice system.

The DNA search method is known within the criminal justice system since 1998. For lost or missing family members Interpol has realized back in 2004 a DNA database to identify human remains which does not allow fingerprints to be taken or when dental X-rays are not available. Recently Interpol also realized a family DNA matching service called I-Familia (Interpol, 2021). I-Familia is fully focused on the search for missing persons and is made out of three components:

• A dedicated global database to host the DNA profiles provided by relatives (held separately from any criminal data);
• The DNA matching software;
• Interpretation guidelines for identification and reporting of potential matches.

To get the required information from DNA, a relatively long time sometimes even weeks pass. Luckily technologies improve which also applies for the use of DNA within the biometric market!

A solution which can be provided by HSB is the ANDE Rapid DNA solution. This device allows a non-technical user to insert up to five swaps in the device. The device will process the swaps and within two hours actionable results are provided!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This solution is specifically useful for special operations operating in remote areas, law enforcement, government & immigration and Rape & Sexual Assault cases. All mentioned markets have a common aspect, they require fast processes and cannot wait for weeks with the conventional way of doing a DNA matching process. Benefits of the ANDE Rapid DNA solution:

• Fast – DNA results in 2 hours
• Easy to use – Designed for use by non-technical personnel
• Accurate – Results at least as good as conventional labs
• Portable – Rugged for use outside of a lab

Any questions or do you see potential for our solution? Complete our contact form by visiting the contact-us page or do you want to read more about HSB’s solutions click here!

Deduplication: “the elimination of duplicate or redundant information, especially in computer data. “Deduplication removes the repetitive information before storing it”.

Adjudication: “the process or act of making an official decision about something”.

Within an identity management solution these definitions are not any different! As an example, in an election process deduplication shall ensure that a person is not registered twice. This to realize that every individual can only cast one vote. The de-duplication process starts when the registration data is uploaded in the central system. The deduplication process matches the biometric data of the voters against each other. If a match is found this record is saved and stored as possible match.

All the possible matches, as an outcome of the automated deduplication process, can now be processed by a human action. This human action, when a trained authorized staff member makes an official decision about the automated duplicate match, is the process of adjudication. Within an identity management solution, the authorized staff member will be given an overview of the potential matches including biometric and biographic information. Using the below figure the staff member will be given all matches with A – A – A, B – B- B, C – C – C and D – D – D. Before all these matches are removed the authorized staff member will decide if these found matches are indeed similar.  If so, duplicates are removed till a single tile or within the identity management solution till one registration of a person.

An example where the deduplication process has been monitored is in Nigeria. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria has disclosed that it has removed 16.5 million duplicated names from the voter roll between 2011 and 2019.

HSB identification is a trustworthy partner with experience in biometric elections in English and French speaking African countries. HSB can deliver the system and can also provide several services among which training and consultancies.

Any questions, complete our contact form by visiting the contact-us page or do you want to read more about HSB’s election solution click here!

Image reference: https://www.joshodgers.com/2015/01/03/deduplication-ratios-what-should-be-included-in-the-reported-ratio/ and is  courtesy of http://www.enterprisestorageguide.com/how-data-deduplication-works

 

On 12th of February 2021 the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) in Chad presented the updated electoral register. This is a significant milestone and we are proud of our team who worked hard for this achievement

After successfully performing the de-duplication and adjudication processes, based on a combination of fingerprint and face matching, around 200.000 duplicates have been removed. Currently, more than seven million Chadians are now eligible to vote for the upcoming elections. According to the statistics, it showed that 49.24% of the registered voters are men and 50.76% are women. The chart below shows the distribution of gender among voters per region in Chad.

The issuance of new voter cards will start in March 2021. Following updates will be available on our website!

Would you like to know more about our solutions, click here and choose the solution you would like to explore! You can also directly send an e-mail to info@hsb.nl or complete the contact request form.

 

HSB Identification B.V. (HSB) has successfully implemented a new biometric voter management system for elections in Chad. This end-to-end solution allows the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) to register new voters and revise the current voters list.

Despite the particular geographic context of Chad, with an area of ​​1,284,000 km2 and a population of 16.6 million, the CENI is able to update electoral rolls and register new voters using a few thousand sophisticated biometric registration kits. The collected data is transferred to the new central infrastructure delivered as part of the project. The solution of HSB also enables deduplication with fingerprints and facial recognition (ABIS), updating the voter register and printing voters lists and voter cards.

The voter registration process includes the registration of biographical information in combination with the biometric information consisting of capturing photo images and ten [10] fingerprints. The rugged biometric registration kit is designed to be easy to use in all climate conditions.

In addition to the initial hardware and software deliveries, HSB identification will maintain and support the system including transfer of knowledge and skills.

After the registration phase in October 2020, up to 8 million voters are registered and able to vote during the next elections. Thanks to the contribution of HSB identification Chad now has the most advanced technology to keep the voters list up to date for years to come.

      

 

On the 13^th – 14^th of November 2019 HSB identification has participated in the major event about international aid and development, AidEx, which was hosted in Brussels, Belgium.

HSB identification would like to thank every party involved realizing this major event. Including visitors, partners but also organizers who planned, organized and presented the event with much passion. HSB identification’s team enjoyed the interesting interactions.

 

 

On the 13^th – 14^th of November 2019 HSB identification will participate in the major event about international aid and development, AidEx, which is hosted in Brussels, Belgium. Visit HSB to see and discuss solutions to create and verify unique identities, which include (mobile) registration units, biometric matching and de-duplication, identity management and authentication services. These products can benefit to markets such as: civil / national ID and AID programs (in rural and remote areas), social and financial inclusion, elections and border control.

AidEx’s fundamental aim is to engage the sector at every level and provide an annual forum for aid and development professionals to meet, source, supply and learn.

You are welcome to visit HSB’s booth A10. Contact us at info@hsb.nl

More information about our solutions can be found at: https://www.hsb.nl/our-solutions/   For more information about AidEx visit: https://www.aid-expo.com/about

HSB identification is proud to announce that it has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in The Netherlands. This agreement includes delivery of advanced biometric means for the expeditionary registration, verification and identification of persons abroad. The Netherlands armed Forces will use multiple types of mobile devices, databases and advanced biometric algorithms.

More information about our solutions can be found at: https://www.hsb.nl/our-solutions/ .

Read this: https://twitter.com/Defensie_DMO/status/1178935464830615554?s=20

Introducing the Tablet-ID ™. This Android based device can biometrically verify and identify the unique ID of people using fingerprints and photo.

Introducing the Tablet-ID ™

HSB identification proudly showed their latest innovation at CARTES 2014 in Paris. The Tablet-ID ™ is a mobile handheld solution which can be used for verification, identification and enrolment of people. With this solution the unique ID of the people can be created or checked.

The Tablet-ID ™ is an Android based device that includes the functionality of a high quality fingerprint scanner and RFID reader. A huge battery capacity is integrated into this solution to ensure a battery life of 13+ hours. The software application on the Tablet-ID ™ can be customized according to the needs of the customer.

Marcel Boogaard, CEO of HSB add “We foresee a growing need to verify users with biometric handheld devices such as the Tablet-ID ™. We have used our long experience to integrate all needed functionality, like high quality fingerprint scanner and long battery life, into one affordable compact device.”

Click here for additional information of the Tablet-ID ™.