BIO-key and identiMetrics provide biometric solution for young children

Identifying small children using biometrics may not seem like a top priority at the moment, but if a disaster or terrorist attack were to occur, it would be — at least for parents — the chief priority. This is why two companies are being lauded for their efforts in creating a biometric device capable of tracking very small children. Wall, New Jersey-based BIO-key and Malvern, Pennsylvania-based identiMetrics have partnered to create a new biometric solution for keeping track of young children. Released under identiMetrics, the new product called indentiFI 1.4, realizes a child’s identity through fingerprint verification. IdentiFi uses BIO-key’s patented biometric matching software solving the problem of using fingerprint-based biometrics to identify children as young as three years old.

Funded by the Benjamin Franklin Technology Partners, IdentiFi has already been used in several locations successfully. Philadelphia’s Visitation BVM School already uses the system to keep track of youth, and five hundred more students were enrolled into the biometric system at the Early Childhood Center in Hammonton, New Jersey. “This is a big step forward for us since identifying young children has been a significant difficulty for the biometrics industry,” remarked Raymond J. Fry, CEO of identiMetrics. Fry, a former principal, knows the identification challenges facing school personnel today. BIO-key CEO Mike DePasquale agrees:

This is another example of biometrics being deployed to simplify our lives while protecting children. It’s impractical to expect a three year old to remember a secure password or PIN or worse yet — to be expected to produce an identity card after returning from the playground!