Is it flattering to have people mistake you for Julian Assange? That’s what happened to Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, who confused UK border controls when they thought the Wikipedia man was notorious international man of mystery Assange. More »
This is how the State Department informed 22,000 people they were not, in fact, eligible for a special US visa program after a computer glitch bungled the lottery: More »
The path across the border from Mexico is a treacherous, often deadly one. To avoid capture, many paid guides are giving groups of northbound illegal immigrants some tech-omniscience – SMS recon, aimed at helping avoid US patrols and other dangers. More »
NEC’s newest facial recognition tech is able to track changes of substantial age and weight to match faces to their younger, slimmer selves. A recent Homeland Security test within a 1.6 million person criminal database saw 92 per cent accuracy. More »
So much for biometrics and immigration security: A South Korean woman managed to fool a million-dollar fingerprint reading machine in Japanese border controls using a simple piece of tape stuck to her fingers.
Much like the United States, Britain has a bit of an illegal immigration problem. Tens of thousands risk their lives to cross into Britain each year by clinging underneath trucks transported on ferries. To combat this problem, BAE systems has provided the border agency with a robot dubbed “Hero” that is capable of ferreting out these stowaways using a combination of cameras and sensors. The device can check underneath vehicles and even detect heartbeats when fitted with the proper equipment. It can also be used to identify chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear materials being smuggled into the country.
