To celebrate International Fraud Awareness Week, we thought we’d give you some background on the use of facial-recognition technology.
Did you know that facial-recognition systems were first introduced after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 to improve security?
Australia was one of the first countries to introduce biometric technology into its passports. In 2005, we launched an ePassport with a microchip containing the facial biometric data of the passport holder.
Now 20 years on, the Australian Passport Office holds around 34.5 million images of passport holders in its database. It’s one of Australia’s largest facial biometric banks and is considered a national asset.
Not only does this image bank help prevent passport fraud, it’s also central to creating trusted digital identities which are essential in an increasingly digital world.