New Technologies Offer Live Fingerprint ID Verification
Polaroid (NYSE:PRD) and Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ:ATML)
announced today, at the CardTech/SecureTech Conference, that they will
be demonstrating a revolutionary secure identity card application that
merges the fields of ultra secure smart cards, fingerprint
verification, card printing, biometric identification and digitalimaging.
The demonstration shows how digital imaging and secure smart card
technology are being used to create ultra secure ID cards that include
biometric identification (a fingerprint), as well as photo ID and
other information. Anyone who wants to participate in the
demonstration may enroll at Polaroid's Booth 466. There they will
receive a photo printed ID card that includes a digitized version of
his/her fingerprint stored in the smart card's memory. The card holder
may then proceed to Atmel Booth 546 where he/she will be asked to
insert the smart ID card and have their actual fingerprint read using
Polaroid's PFS-100 fingerprint imaging system jointly developed by
Polaroid and Atmel. The PFS-100 system compares the card holder's
actual fingerprint against the fingerprint stored in the smart card to
verify the holder's identify. Cardholders whose identities are
verified against their cards will receive a gift. Show attendees are
encouraged to test the system by using other people's cards, as well
as their own.
Biometric identification, such as that provided by finger images
or facial recognition software, is virtually infallible because the
cardholder's ID is tied to his/her unique physical characteristics.
The information stored on the card is protected by circuits inside the
cards themselves that perform encryption/decryption of the data on the
card. The tiny smart card circuits in Polaroid's ID cards are actually
integrated circuits, called smart card ICs, supplied by AtmelCorporation.
Atmel's smart card ICs are acknowledged to be some of the most
secure designs available in today's market with the ability to perform
critical encryption/decryption tasks within the card and able to
securely identify the system or person reading the card, thereby
virtually guaranteeing that sensitive personal information will never
be written to or leave the card undetected or without authorization.
This system is ideal for driver's licenses and other forms ofidentification.
Philip J. Scarfo, Vice President of Polaroid's Biometrics Systems
said, "We all use cards for identification. The drivers' license has
been the core of most identification systems worldwide for decades.
The security requirements of the future require a much higher level of
physical verification and attention to increasingly sophisticated
fraud and electronic 'hacking'. Smart ID cards provide this ultra high
level of security in the familiar ID card format everyone is used to.
"Polaroid leads the secure identification market, currently
producing digital driver's licenses in California, Texas, Georgia and
West Virginia in the U.S., and internationally providing
identification documents for governments in more than 60 countries
including Brazil, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Russia and
China. Collectively, our systems worldwide currently hold more than
250 million image and fingerprint records --arguably more than theFBI.
"The newest biometric smart ID cards from Polaroid and Atmel
provide significantly greater ID security at a very low cost. We
expect the biometric IDs to become a world wide ID standard in the
next few years. "Scarfo concluded.
Alex Giakoumis, Senior Adviser to Atmel commented, "Frost and
Sullivan estimates that the market potential for smart ID cards alone
is estimated by analysts to easily exceed $1 billion by 2003.
"We've all heard stories about underage kids getting fake IDs,"
Giakoumis noted. "Smart ID cards can absolutely prevent this problem.
However, the real issue relating to personal identification in today's
society are identity theft, check fraud, and internet e-commerce
fraud. To solve these problems, the public and authorities need to be
able to spot counterfeit identities quickly and cheaply. Individuals
equally need to be able to protect their privacy and identity. The
secure ID solutions we are demonstrating today that use secure data in
conjunction with digital imaging and biometrics provide the absolute
security required in today's environment."
The CardTech/SecureTech conference is being held in Chicago,
Illinois, at the Chicago Convention Center, in McCormick Place South.
Atmel is located in Booth 546 and Polaroid is located in Booth 466.
Founded in 1984, Atmel Corporation is headquartered in San Jose,
California with principal manufacturing facilities in Colorado
Springs, Colorado, Nantes and Rousset, France and Heilbronn, Germany.
Atmel designs, manufactures and markets on a worldwide basis advanced
logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory, and RF semiconductors. Atmel
is also a leading provider of system level integration semiconductor
solutions using advanced CMOS, BiCMOS, BiPolar and SiGe processtechnologies.
The new AT88SC1608 smart card IC provides 17,408 bits of serial
EEPROM memory organized into nine zones - eight user zones and one
configuration zone. The device is optimized as a secure memory system
for the smart card market. It provides secure identification without
the need for a microprocessor. The chip includes 64-bit
authentication, eight sets of passwords and both authentication and
password attempts counters.
Polaroid Corporation, with annual sales of more than $1.8 billion
in 1998, is the worldwide leader in instant imaging. Polaroid supplies
instant photographic cameras and films; digital imaging hardware,
software and media; secure identification systems; graphics imaging
systems; sunglasses and polarizers to markets worldwide. |
