Iris Recognition - Deployed Applications

Deployed Applications

• United Arab Emirates IrisGuard's Homeland Security Border Control has been operating an expellee tracking system in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since 2001, when the UAE launched a national border-crossing security initiative. Today, all of the UAE's land, air and sea ports of entry are equipped with systems. All foreign nationals who possess a visa to enter the UAE are processed through iris cameras installed at all primary and auxiliary immigration inspection points. To date, the system has apprehended over 330,000 persons re-entering the UAE with fraudulent travel documents.

• Aadhar, India's UID project uses Iris scan along with fingerprints to uniquely identify people and allocate a Unique Identification Number.

• Iris is one of three biometric identification technologies internationally standardized by ICAO for use in future passports (the other two are fingerprint and face recognition).

• Police forces across America plan to start using BI2 Technologies’ mobile MORIS (Mobile Offender Recognition and Information System)in 2012. New York City Police Department was the first, installed in Manhattan fall of 2010.

• Iris recognition technology has been implemented by BioID Technologies SA in Pakistan for UNHCR repatriation project to control aid distribution for Afghan refugees. Refugees are repatriated by UNHCR in cooperation with Government of Pakistan, and they are paid for their travel. To make sure people do not get paid more than once, their irises are scanned, and the system will detect the refugees on next attempt. The database has more than 1.3 million iris code templates and around 4000 registrations per day. The one-to-many iris comparison takes place within 1.5 seconds against 1.3 million iris codes.

• At Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, iris recognition has permitted passport-free immigration since 2001.

• Canadian Air Transport Security Authority's Restricted Area Identity Card (RAIC) program is the world's first dual-biometric program deployed around major Canadian airports for staff and aircrews to access the restricted areas using separate channels from passengers.

• In a number of US and Canadian airports, as part of the NEXUS program that facilitates entry into the US and Canada for pre-approved, low-risk travelers.

• In several Canadian airports, as part of the CANPASS Air program that facilitates entry into Canada for pre-approved, low-risk air travelers.

• UK's IRIS — Iris Recognition Immigration System, which started operating in 2004 but which was closed to new registrations in 2011 and which is being phased out in 2012.

• Used to verify the recognition of the "Afghan Girl" (Sharbat Gula) by National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry. See http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~jgd1000/afghan.html

• Google uses iris scanners to control access to their datacentres.

• In 2010, Leon, Mexico, deployed iris scanners in scan public spaces, where they can identify up to fifty people at once.

• On May 10, 2011, Hoyos Group demonstrated a device called EyeLock using iris-recognition as an alternative to passwords to log people in to password-protected Web sites and applications, like Facebook or eBay.