How New Technology Can Offer Safeguards Against Fake IDs

By: Steven D. Williams

These days, a driver’s license does more than just let you drive. It gets you through airport security checkpoints, past the lobby guard in secure buildings, and lets you cash a check. And when someone wields a fake license, the consequences can be tragic.

On 9/11, the hijackers carried licenses that had been fraudulently obtained; and in bars near college campuses, many underage students habitually use fake IDs to drink, occasionally leading to fatal accidents when an intoxicated student gets behind the wheel of a car. Today, fake IDs are manufactured so professionally that a simple visual check performed by a bouncer or security personnel is no longer adequate. New technology must be put into place that can do the job.

The Washington Post recently reported that the production of many fake driver’s licenses has been taken over by a Chinese company that produces near-perfect counterfeits and ships them to the US, usually hidden inside ordinary items such as sneakers. On these bogus licenses, the photograph, physical description, signature and address are authentic, and the hologram is an exact duplicate. Even the bar code can pass unsophisticated examinations.

New York Sen. Charles Schumer has said it is time to crack down on this illegal trade. To purchase fake IDs, one must wire money through companies like Western Union. Schumer says that is the way to fight the problem. He wants the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to ban such money transfers on the theory that the fake IDs can be used for much more than teen drinking.

“There are lots of security implications, presenting [the IDs] in an airport, getting on an airplane, getting access to places that people shouldn’t have,” Schumer has said.

The latest counterfeit IDs are so good they’re dangerous. To the naked eye, the fake driver’s licenses look perfect. Even bartenders and police officers are fooled - everything about them appears to be authentic. Yet, sources of identification are the last opportunity to ensure that people are who they say they are, and to check whether they are terrorists before they board a plane or enter a secure facility.

Consequently, it is vital that we harness technological solutions to do what human beings examining an ID card for authenticity can no longer do on their own. The era of visual inspections of IDs is over.

What should be done?
As a leader in ID technology devoted to security solutions, we have recognized a set of strategies that have the potential to maximize our safety in this new era. Despite the widely varying circumstances involved in high-profile terrorist incidents during the last decade, most or all might never have occurred if certain security measures involving new technology been in place - and worked in concert.

For example, electronic devices have been developed that can scan a passenger’s ID card (e.g., a driver’s license or military ID card) at the boarding gate, validate its authenticity, determine whether it is lost or stolen and check if the bearer’s identity is on a “No Fly,” terrorist or watch list.

By scanning and comparing the information to the numerous “bad guy” and FBI watch databases, this technology can determine in the space of a few seconds if the ID is fake, if it has been reported lost or stolen, if the individual presenting it has any outstanding wants and warrants, and if the individual is on an authorized roster of previously cleared personnel.

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Source: HSToday.us