Bioscrypt wins Belize passport work

Bioscrypt Inc., a provider of identity verification technology, announced that its Bioscrypt Core algorithm has been licensed by 3M-AiT for use in the Belizean Machine-Readable Passport System.

The value of the license was not disclosed, officials from the Toronto-based company said. 3M-AiT is a provider of solutions for authenticating individuals, headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario.

The Belizean Machine-Readable Passport System will cover areas in Belize including Belize City, Belmopan and Punta Gorda. Existing passports will be replaced with machine-readable passports over a period of time. Fraud will be fought by maintaining and checking all passports applications against a database of biometric information.

Bioscrypt provided a software developers kit that allows two fingerprints to be captured and checked against a candidate list. 3M-AiT integrated the software developer kit with a facial recognition system to create a dual finger and face biometric identification solution for use in passport issuance.

Biometric technology was introduced to address the fraudulent use of multiple passports by a single user.

The project is a collaboration with the International Organization for Migration and is being funded by the U.S. State Department's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

In another announcement, Bearing Point, Inc. selected Bioscrypt software and hardware for use in the U.S. Homeland Security Department's prototype phase of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program, Bioscrypt officials said. The $12 million program involves more than 200,000 transportation workers.