German biometrics company Dermalog Identification Systems GmbH, which won the contract to supply driver’s license cards in the country, expressed interest to participate in the national ID system project.
“We have helped to shape the world of security through our innovations, and we see many areas where the Philippines can benefit from our technology. From border control systems to e-passports and ID cards, we are ready to support the government,” Dermalog chief executive Gunther Mull said.
The company’s existing projects include large-scale government installations in Germany and 25 other European countries as well as biometric border control systems and ID systems in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei and other Asian countries.
Dermalog recently established an office in Makati City, exhibiting its confidence in the continued progress and development of the Philippine economy.
Dermalog and local partners CFP Strategic Transaction Advisors and Nextix Inc. won a five-year contract from Land Transportation Office to supply driver’s license cards worth P830 million.
LTO’s new driver’s license card, loaded with a record-setting 32 security features, is embedded with the card owner’s biometric information, such as fingerprints, a compressed photograph and demographic data in a 2-dimensional barcode. It also contains 6 Guilloche and 11 holographic security features.
Photos and personal data of the drivers are no longer printed on the cards, but are laser engraved into the card material by the new Dermalog CL1 laser engraver machines. The technology is more secure against fraud than conventional printing.
The new cards fare made of polycarbonate material, which is the most durable card material today, lasting for more than eight years under normal circumstances.
Besides the innovative cards, Dermalog is supplying a new, complete turn-key solution for LTO with web-based registration workstations and software, laser engravers and AFIS.
Ten fingerprints of each applicant are registered, together with a photo and relevant data. The fingerprints are then automatically searched in real time by Dermalog AFIS through a central fingerprint database, in order to prevent duplicate identities and to ensure that only one driver’s license card may be issued to each qualified applicant.
The company also performed biometric deduplication work for the Commission on Elections last year.