The Government of Pakistan is using face recognition technology and a finger print technology to combat identify theft and fraud.
The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), on contract to the Pakistani Government to run the countryโs smart passport and national ID programme, has uncovered multiple instances of fraud. NADRA subsequently issued a country-wide alert in July 2005 through The News, a Pakistani English newspaper, notifying those holding fraudulent identity documents that they had been caught and will be pursued if they do not turn in their identity cards.
"Viisageโs FaceTOOLS and FaceEXPLORER products are powerful investigative tools for exposing fraud in our national ID and passport programs," said Brigadier (Retd.) Saleem Ahmad Moeen, chairman of NADRA. "In less than a year, this solution has helped us define the extent of the identity fraud problem in Pakistan and increase security for the country."
Using the Viisage biometric product, NADRA was able to enroll 34 million existing images and scan them for duplicates, in three months. Pakistanโs database is expected to grow to 50 million records when the enrollment phase is completed. This approach has helped Pakistan uncover existing identity fraud in the countryโs passport and national ID programme and to head off future instances, it is claimed. NADRA uses the face recognition technology to compare 21,000 new applicant images a day to the entire database and thus prevent fraud before it occurs. NADRA is catching up to 109 fraudulent records daily, thereby blocking the processing of these fraudulent records.
"Pakistan is a leader in implementing a countrywide electronic passport and national ID program," said Bernard Bailey, president and CEO of Viisage. "Its use of face recognition shows the technologyโs true power in fighting the growing problem of identity fraud and securing critical identity documents." Nasser Jaffer, CEO of Jaffer Brothers, which represents Viisage in Pakistan, said: โWe are privileged to be instrumental in helping to implement the worldโs largest face recognition solution.โ Viisage and NADRA add that they have signed an agreement to pursue opportunities to help Middle Eastern, South American and Asian countries manage their national ID programmes and databases.
