Pakistan’s Hi-Tech Face Recognition Passports Contract Given to US Firm

Viisage, a Billerica-based provider of identity systems and software, has been chosen by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), an independent corporate organization in Pakistan, to integrate the company’s face recognition technology into Pakistan’s smart passport and national ID program.

The new program, headed by NADRA and sponsored by the Pakistani government, is designed to reduce terrorism and ethnic violence by helping the country enhance national security and prevent problems related to identity theft, fraud and the use of unauthorized identity documents.

NADRA will use Viisage’s FaceTools product to conduct a one-to-one face recognition search against an applicant’s recorded image in the national ID database. Additionally, Viisage’s FaceExplorer will be used for one-to-many checking to cleanse the national ID database, ensure that duplicates are uncovered and screen images against watch lists. Pakistan’s national ID database contains more than 40 million images, making this one of the largest worldwide face recognition projects to date…