A new, dual biometric-based airport ID card has taken flight at 29 Canadian airports, boosting security to new heights. The Restricted Area Identity Card (RAIC) utilizes chip-based smart cards issued to all airport personnel. The cards work in conjunction with biometric readers for fingerprint or iris authentication.

Already, 100,000 Canadian airport workers have been enrolled in the RAIC program. Before receiving a card, each worker must provide information such as their name, employer, and employee ID number. That data is encoded on a smart chip within the ID card. Additionally, biometric information including a digital image or template of the employee’s fingerprint and iris is stored on the smart chip. A biometric reader can then match the information stored on the smart card with the worker’s biometric prints to verify the employee. Each airport’s access control system is also integrated with the RAIC program so that the cards and readers can define individual employee’s access privileges to specific areas.
The use of biometric information is the key to the RAIC program’s secure ID cards. It will be interesting to see if other country’s follow Canada’s lead in terms of sophisticated biometric IDs for airport employees.
Read more at InterGovWorld.com…