The Baha Beach Club in Barcelona has opened up a fast-track method for free entry.  Unfortunately, it’s not for the squeamish.

A microchip the size of a grain of rice is injected beneath the skin.  You are issued a 10-digit PIN, which ties you to your bank.  $160 gets you a chip, plus $126 in credit.  That means you can enter like a star for a mere $34.

Such a chip is only available at the Baha Beach Club currently, but there is interest in Europe.  The UK Institute For Grocery Distribution’s survey claims that one in 10 teenagers and 1 in 20 adults would be interested - however I’m certainly not one of them.

Source

Biometric technology is getting some nice coverage today on one of the world’s biggest news websites, BBC.co.uk.

Firms point to biometric future - Keys, cards, passports and PINs could soon be a thing of the past as biometric technology makes our bodies the only passwords we need.

US imposes biometric entry demand - A deadline for states with visa waiver agreements with the US to start issuing a new generation of biometric passports to meet US demands has passed.

See here for a front page featured piece on biometrics for beginners.

Scott’s Food & Pharmacy customers can now conveniently and securely pay for their groceries and pharmaceutical goods with the touch of a finger. Pay By Touch, the leader in integrated biometric authentication, personalized marketing and payment solutions, and Scott’s Food & Pharmacy, today announced the launch of a pilot finger-scan payment program at four of its stores in northeast Indiana.

The Pay By Touch system uses a secure finger scan to debit a shopper’s checking account just like using a check or debit card. Finger scans are more secure than paper checks or debit cards because the account numbers are not exposed to anyone — not even to the store associate.

“We are always looking for creative and innovative ways to improve our customers’ shopping experiences,” said Bill Gillispie, General Manager, Scott’s Food & Pharmacy. “Pay By Touch is a win-win for Scott’s. It increases shoppers’ privacy and security while offering the convenience of faster checkouts. We are excited to roll out the new service, and eager to see how shoppers respond.”

Scott’s is the first grocery chain to adopt Pay By Touch’s biometric payment service in northeast Indiana. Once the test is complete, the finger scan system will be implemented in Scott’s 14 other grocery stores in a month- long launch starting November 7. Pay By Touch is also available at more than 200 retail locations in the greater Chicagoland area.

Signing up for Pay By Touch is easy with a picture ID, voided check and secure finger scan. The system is free, and customer information is never sold. Once enrolled, shoppers can immediately make purchases with the touch of a finger at any participating retailer.

“Retailers and shoppers alike benefit from Pay By Touch,” said John Rogers, founder, chairman, and CEO of Pay By Touch. “Shoppers make faster, more private purchases while retailers see increased customer loyalty as a result of improved customer service.”

The Biometrics 2006 conference began today, and tomorrow the doors will open to the public for the global Biometrics 2006 Expo.  Over 60 of the most important companies in biometrics today will be attending, including the likes of Fujitsu, Motorola, Precise Biometrics, RC Group plus many more.

You may be wondering - if I attend, what will I likely get to see?  Well, the Biometrics 2006 website gives us some insight as to the announcements set to be made.  Here are a few tidbits - more after the jump.

Cogent Systems will present the new BlueCheckTM, a Bluetooth enabled mobile fingerprint scanner for law enforcement applications. Used with Cogent’s LiveID and MobileID software BlueCheckTM allows users to quickly and easily perform in the field fingerprint capture and identifications.

fingerPIN Ltd will be launching fingerPIN(tm), a biometric fingerprinting technology that increases the complexity of penetrating fingerprint based security methods. The fingerPIN authenticates identity on two levels: the uniqueness of the users’ fingerprints and the privacy of the sequence. Through the fingerPIN the risk of someone fraudulently logging on or accessing a secure area using a third person’s fingerprint data are reduced from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 10 billion due to the difficulty of cracking a combination of several unique fingerprints used in a specific sequence.

(more…)

NEC is bringing its NeoFace biometric face recognition system to the UK. The solution which is already strengthening the efficiency of Hong Kong immigration, accurately recognises faces, and records and registers their biometric characteristics. By verifying unique identities the technology efficiently reduces the opportunity for individuals to use multiple identities.

NEC fingerprint and facial biometrics are underpinning a number of ground-breaking solutions around the world that could strengthen border control in the UK, in light of ongoing security concerns. At Biometrics 2006, NEC will be demonstrating the innovative solutions that have made it a leading security supplier and systems integrator across the world, with government national deployments, including passports, ID cards and visas to border control.

“In the three months since the Heathrow security alert, and the year since the London bombings, the security awareness has never been greater. Fingerprinting, facial recognition and biometric passports will strengthen the current immigration processes. Increased efficiencies by reducing queues and waiting-times for passengers, as well as reinforcement for passport officials are proven. For example, NEC in Singapore was able to significantly increase the efficiency of its immigration officials on duty by implementing an automated biometric border control solution, and are still providing ongoing efficiencies,” said Carl Gohringer, Head of Security and Identity Solutions, NEC UK.

The application of facial recognition technology within government departments is proving successful for NEC customers. Italian Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS), one of the Italian Ministry of the Interior’s agencies, is using NEC’s Quality Tool Face(R) to help verify the identity of those applying for residence permits to help eliminate fraud by ensuring the applicant’s images conform to the required criteria.

NEC is recognised by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)[1] as providing the world’s most accurate fingerprint identification technology, a fact that was confirmed by the United Nations’ selection of NEC biometric software as the fastest and most accurate for the biometric enrollment kits developed by Belgium Systems Integrator Zetes and made it possible for the Democratic Republic of Congo to hold its first democratic election in December. The custom-built Mobile Biometric Enrolment Solution was the first of its kind and enabled more than 20 million voters to verify their identity with fingerprint technology and prevented individuals from voting more than once.

NEC has been developing their Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) since 1969 and its global expertise is key to a number of large scale national projects. The world’s largest biometric database for the South African Home Affairs National Identity System (HANIS) provides a fully integrated 10 fingerprint identity solution to over 45 million adults.

“NEC has a strong global track record, with end-to-end intelligence and solutions. It is well-known that NEC is committed to Research and Development having invested 5.7% of its global net sales or GBP1,387 million in 2005. For security solutions, we have focused developments on 3D facial recognition, DNA and Multi-Modal biometric solutions to ensure higher accuracy,” confirmed Gohringer.

NEC’s NeoFace solution, Mobile Biometric Enrolment Solution used for the Democratic Republic of Congo elections, biometric enrolment software for Asylum Seeker applications and its airport style biometric kiosk for travel documents will be on display at this year’s Biometrics 2006 conference.

Carl Gohringer will be available for interview at NEC Stand 408 at Biometrics 2006.