The General Directorate of Abu Dhabi Police in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iridian Technologies have reported that the total number of enrolled IrisCode(R) templates of expelled persons has exceeded 200,000 records, the largest expellee IrisCode template database in the world. The database is a critical aspect of the UAE's border control system based on iris recognition.
The project, which started in 2001, involves the enrollment of inmates and expellees' irises from geographically distributed deportation centers throughout the UAE into a central iris database at the General Directorate of Abu Dhabi Police; a real-time, one to all, iris-check of arriving passengers with new visit or work visas at any UAE border point will reveal if the person has been expelled from the country.
The number of searches carried out to date has exceeded 300,000 searches from land, sea and air border points, with a sustained real-time response reported by all sites on a 24 hour-seven-day-a-week basis. The number of searches is expected to rise considerably in the next few months as the authorities will require more traveler categories to submit for an iris recognition at all UAE border entry points.
US-based Iridian Technologies commercializes the algorithms developed by John Daugman of Cambridge University, UK for iris recognition, renowned as one of the most accurate biometric identifiers. Iridian offers security for public-use applications such as simplified passenger travel, border control, national id, restricted access and information access solutions. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
