Biometrics help secure Springfield-Branson Regional Airport

Airports and airlines are employing a number of new safety measures to keep passengers safe, and the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport is no exception.

On Feb. 18, the airport began screening employees who have access to secure areas using a biometric fingerprint au-thentication machine manufactured by Identix Inc. in Los Gatos, Calif.

According to Sherry Wallace, director of marketing and communication for the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport, the new Identix Live Scan TouchPrint 2000 Applicant Fingerprint System now will be used to comply with employee background check requirements of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which passed Nov. 19, 2001.

An employee or prospective employee places their hand on the machine's fingerprint scanner, which measures the unique, complex swirls on a person's fingertips.

This information is then stored electronically and sent to the American As-sociation of Airports Executives, which acts as a clearinghouse, before it is forwarded on to the FBI. The FBI then cross-checks the fingerprints with those stored in their criminal database. The en-tire process takes less than 72 hours.

"If a match is made, the FBI notifies the employer," said Wallace. "That could be the airport, or it could be an airline."

The Springfield-Branson Regional Airport is but one of many airports na-tionwide that have implemented biometric screening methods following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Unlike security badges, personal identification numbers, passwords and other personal identification methods, biometric technology relies on unique physiological characteristics to verify a person's identity. These characteristics in-clude fingerprints, palm prints, voice rec-ognition, facial recognition, iris scans and retina scans.

Fingerprint recognition systems, such as the one in use at Springfield-Branson Regional Airport, are one of the most popular biometric identification methods used for identification and security.

Palm print recognition systems also are used to confirm a person's identity. This biometric system works by measuring the shape, creases and other identifying characteristics on a person's hand.

Voice recognition systems create a voiceprint, which is based on the inflection points in an individual's speech pattern. This biometric technique isn't foolproof, however, because a person's voice pattern is affected by things such as sickness, drugs and emotions.

Facial recognition systems use a camera, which is attached to a computer, to capture and map identifying features. Some facial recognition systems perform a test to see how a person's face moves, so that a photo cannot be used.

This biometric identification system also is growing in popularity.

In January 2001, authorities used a biometric facial recognition system during Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa to search for felons among the crowd of nearly 100,000 spectators.

Another popular biometric identification system is iris scans. Iris scans, which are non-invasive, examine the unique patterns in a person's iris, or colored ring around the pupil of the eye. At present, iris scans are regarded as having the highest accuracy of all the biometric technologies.

Retinal scans examine the blood vessel patterns of the retina, the nerve tissue that lines the inside of the eye that is sensitive to light.

An infrared light source is used to illuminate the retina of the eye. The image of the enhanced blood vessel pattern of the retina then is analyzed for characteristic points, and this information is re-corded.

The retinal scans aren't foolproof either. The retina is susceptible to disease, such as cataracts, which can change the characteristics of the eye. Retinal scans also are invasive because a light source must be used to illuminate the retina of the eye.

Business travelers will likely see more biometric systems come into use over the next few years.

On Feb. 17, the newly formed Trans-portation Security Agency assumed re-sponsibility for air-travel security. One of the agency's first orders of business was to eliminate special security checkpoints, which many airlines had set up for business travelers and frequent flyers. However, the express lines leading up to the checkpoints are still in place.

Still, business travelers and other frequent flyers will no longer be cleared in a special security area. Instead, all travelers will be cleared through the same security checkpoint.

Although Springfield-Branson Re-gional Airport has no express security check-in lanes, in part due to its size, business travelers will notice this change when they check-in at a major airport to fly home.

To help speed the check-in process along, major airlines such as Virgin At-lantic already have started to offer business travelers and other frequent flyers "iris programs." Virgin Atlantic is offering the iris program on a trial basis to travelers who fly between New York and London, according to Joanna Virello, press liaison for Virgin Atlantic's North America office.

Members of the program can have their iris scanned and their personal data entered on a computer chip, which is placed on a credit card-sized identification card. To check in at the airport, the member simply presents their ID card and submits to a biometric iris scan, which verifies their identity.

Similar programs, which rely on other biometric identification methods, likely will pop up as well. What remains to be seen, however, is whether business travelers and frequent flyers will pay for this convenience or whether the airlines will pick up the tab so they can retain this all-important segment of their business.