Detroit News.com

Airport face scanners wouldn't detect some suspects, study says

June 24, 2002
By Edmond Lococo/Bloomberg News

NEW YORK -- Many suspected terrorists or criminals would likely pass undetected through airport face-recognition systems, though that needn't stop deployment of the technology, a study prepared for the U.S. Transport Security Administration concludes.

The systems, which use cameras to compare facial images against photos stored in a database, are least effective in open surveillance, when people approach the camera at different angles and speeds, the study by the International Biometric Group said.

U.S. airports are expected to spend $100 billion on security in 2003 and makers of face-recognition systems such as Viisage Technology Inc. and Visionics Corp. want a share of that market. The stock of both companies has risen more than 80 percent since before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as airports in California, Massachusetts, Texas and Florida began testing their systems.

"Based on the volume of passengers under surveillance and the finite resources available to address suspected matches, it is possible that the large majority of individuals on watch lists would not be apprehended through surveillance systems," the study said.

The 175-page report was drawn from the results of its own tests conducted in August 2001, said Samir Nanavati, a partner at the New York-based for-profit consulting firm that prepared it.

Delivered to the Transport Security Administration earlier this month, the study is intended to provide information on the strengths and weaknesses of the systems, not to offer a recommendation on employing the technology, Nanavati said.

'High False Non-Match Rates' Facial recognition systems are "susceptible to high false non-match rates," the report says, according to a 10-page executive summary supplied to Bloomberg News by the International Biometric Group. Changes in physiological characteristics also reduce matching accuracy, a problem that grows over time as photos become more dated, the study says.

In their favor, facial-recognition systems can use existing images and search large databases, and attendants require little training, the report says.

The report also looks at finger, hand and iris scanning, other types of biometric technology that can verify one's identity through physiological characteristics. Facial-recognition technology is the only one currently capable of detecting suspects from a distance, the report says.

The Transport Security Administration is receiving many reports on biometric technology, which are under review, said spokesman Greg Warren. The administration doesn't comment on individual reports, he said. Congress created the federal agency last year to take over security at the nation's airports, including passenger screening.

Strike a Pose

The positioning and location of cameras and the degree of passenger cooperation required largely determines how well the systems work, the report says.

Forcing passengers to stop and pose for the camera under the direction of security staff, known as "direct control point surveillance," may mitigate some of the performance problems, the report said.

"By deploying facial-scan in a direct control point fashion, by emphasizing deterrence instead of detection and by developing realistic expectations regarding system accuracy and capabilities, surveillance can be deployed effectively in air travel applications," the report concludes.

James Bond

Makers of face-recognition technology concede the systems can't catch every suspected terrorist or criminal, although they insist performance will be adequate to improve security.

"Will it catch 100 percent of them? No," said Denis Berube, chairman of Littleton, Massachusetts-based Viisage. "But if four of them came through, would we catch two, or three? Probably yes. Would we catch one? Almost certainly."

Joseph Atick, chief executive of Minnetonka, Minnesota-based Visionics, said he worries that expectations are inflated.

"Most people's expectations are shaped by Hollywood, James Bond," Atick said.

Both Visionics, which is being acquired by Identix Inc., and rival Viisage say a 90-day trial of face scanning at Boston's Logan International is proof of the technology's promise.

At Logan, photos of employees were put into the system and the scanners were tested to see if they could differentiate between employees and passengers.

In the final 30 days of the trial period, Viisage's system had a "better than 90 percent" accuracy rate, Berube said. The Visionics system's "typical performance" was in the mid-80 percent to low-90 percent range, Atick said.

"The Logan trials validate that facial recognition can add value," Atick said.

Real World

Rich Roth, executive director of Maryland-based Counter Technology Inc., the independent contractor that ran the Logan trials, declined to provide details on the systems' performance. CTI is still analyzing the results.

"Both of them were pretty much the same," Roth said. "The problems both of them had were pretty much similar and the things that they did do right were fairly similar also."

International Biometric Group's Nanavati said results from trials such as the one at Logan are "promising," though not indicative of how the systems would work in the real world.

"You would find a lower accuracy rate in a situation where you have non-cooperative subjects," Nanavati said. "A terrorist is going to work to not be caught."