“What we really want to do is, if someone comes to us with
(someone else's name) we will see that it is a different photograph, and we are
able to match not just the obvious matches but we are looking digitally at the
various features of the face to see the extent to which one's face is the same
as, or is different from another”
Chief Executive
Officer of PICA, Jennifer McDonald explaining how the FRS will work to prevent Passport
fraud
PICA (Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency) is now
in the business of facial recognition, making it harder for you to forge Passports.
This as they've applied for and had gotten Cabinet approval
for the procurement of a US$1.38 million contract for a FRS (Facial Recognition
Software) as reported in the article “PICA
To Import MultimillionDollar Device To Fight Identity Theft”, published
Thursday July 16, 2015, The Jamaica
Gleaner.
Minister with responsibility for Information, Sandrea
Falconer along with Chief Executive Officer of PICA, Jennifer McDonald and
Minister of Security Peter Bunting jointly, made this announcement at the
Jamaica House Media Briefing on Wednesday July 15th 2015.
Minister with responsibility for Information, Sandrea
Falconer pointed out that with prevalence of identity theft, the purchase of
this biometric software application was necessary.
To quote Minister with responsibility for Information,
Sandrea Falconer, the FRS is really an improved “version” of the current JPICS
(Jamaica Passport Issuance and Control System): “All photographs received from
applicants will be checked against this database to identify a onetoone match
or to eliminate onetomany matches”.
Had no idea that checking faces by examining them under a
portable microscope or magnifying glass and a strong backlight was a system.
Still, FRS should automate that process that is prone to human error – a
possible source of forgeries slipping though the system in the first place!
JPICS upgraded to FRS
- How FRS can spot stolen or forged Passports
According to the CEO of PICA, Jennifer McDonald, the Facial
Recognition Software can uniquely identify a specific individual's face. This
can be either from a group of faces or a single image in an image.
It then compares it against PICA's Passport Database for
registered Jamaican Passport holders, making it possible to spot criminals and
instances of identity theft if a mismatch to face and the name or Passport
number is detected.
Facial Recognition makes it possible to uniquely identify a
Jamaican citizen based on their facial feature. It is considered a biometric
market that’s unique to the individual, almost like a fingerprint. FRS is
current deployed at certain specific high security locations usually associated
with travel and the use of travel documents, such as embassies, consulates and
airports.
The previous JPICS, deployed since 2001, has detected only
seven hundred and ninety (790) cases of identity theft, which is rather low for
a fifteen (15) year span given the pervasiveness of Passport fraud. After all,
with PICA agents under pressure, there is only so much a pair of eyes can spot
and many slip through the cracks, be it intentionally or unintentionally!
PICA plan to use the Facial Recognition Software to detect
forged or stolen Passports. This by comparing the Passport image to those
stored in PICA's Passport Database for a particular name connected to that Passport
name or number.
If either the face or the Passport number does match that of
the bearer of the Passport, they would have stopped an unscrupulous individual
from using a forged or stolen Passport. This as the mismatch to PICA's Passport
Database would reveal the forgery.
So what could possibly go wrong? Almost everything I'm
afraid!!
FRS from Canadian
Bank Note Company - Iris scan Database needed as face can be duplicated
The Monday June 1st 2015date for the price
increase for renewal and replacement for Jamaican Passports as stipulate by
Minister of National Security, Peter Bunting, has come and gone as reported in
my blog article
entitled “@NatSecurityJA
sets June 1st 2015 as new PICA Deadline – MNP, 19 Cable TV missing and Zika Virus
for the Summer of 2015”.
This new software will not result in any further prices
increases, as the US$1.38 million contract is being sourced from GOJ
(Government of Jamaica) tax dollars as reported in the article “PICA
to introduce facial recognition Passport system”, published Saturday, July
18, 2015, The Jamaica Observer.
The upgrade is apparently needed, as seven hundred and
ninety (790) cases of forged or stolen Passports over fifteen (15) years looks
a little suspicious. Hopefully the Canadian contractor Canadian Bank Note
Company’s FRS software, which is also used to detect forged banknotes, works a
lot better and is faster than the current human-based JPICS system.
While they’re at it, an iris scan database wouldn't be a bad
idea despite qualms about privacy as noted in my blog article
entitled “@CarnegieMellon
Remote Iris Scanner - Invasion of Privacy Legislation if Remote Iris Scanning”
becomes popular like Touch ID”, seeing as twins tend to have near identical
faces, even in Passport photographs.
Additionally, facial features change as an individual ages.
Hopefully the ten (10) upgrade cycles will occur before a young man’s face
becomes disfigured by cuts or puberty, as you significantly different with a
beard.
Even the human-eyes based JPICS system couldn’t spot those! All
in the name of National Security!
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