#	Pagina
attuale pagina	/open-h2020/projects/202685/results.html

Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PROTECT (Pervasive and UseR Focused BiomeTrics BordEr ProjeCT)

Teaser

Summary

Traveller numbers and air, land and sea border crossings are without doubt increasing. At the same time, border authorities are continually faced with reduced resources. If all travellers remain subject to manual checks or even Automated Border Control (i.e. eGates), queues will become unacceptably long.

The 3-year (2016-2019) PROTECT project was funded by the EC to explore how advances in biometric technology promises improved security solutions for borders while simultaneously improving the travellerâ€™s experience through expedited crossing of the border. Specifically, the PROTECT system is investigating and proposing new less obtrusive approaches to biometric data capture and verification, particularly the use of emerging and contactless biometrics including hand vein, voice and anthropometrics.

Moreover, the PROTECT project is exploring how traveller identification may be performed â€˜on the moveâ€™ whereby the identification process takes place in a biometric corridor that can be passed by the traveller without stopping. Multiple biometrics are stored securely on a travellerâ€™s mobile device or electronic passport and securely transmitted to the border control system on arrival at the port of entry. As the traveller approaches the border live biometrics are captured and verified using an advanced identification system which includes the means to detect attempts by travellers to fool the identification system.

Since greater use of personal [biometric] data impacts upon human rights, the PROTECT project is also undertaking an honest and assertive study of what the risks are to privacy and how these risks are mitigated and balanced by improving the travel experience and security of the citizen.

Hence the overall objective of the PROTECT project is to build an advanced biometric-based person identification system that works robustly across a range of border crossing types (air, land and sea) and that has strong user centric features.

Work performed

A key activity in the first months of the project was to identify the user requirements with regard to new biometric-based person identification technologies and procedures. Two stakeholder workshops were organised and held at the University of Reading and which brought together more than 50 experts from various fields connected to biometrics and border security. In addition, to obtain insight from the travellerâ€™s perspective, a web-based questionnaire was set up and which received more than 120 responses. Finally, requirements were collected during two field visits: at Heathrow airport and two land border crossing points in Poland respectively in January and February 2017.

A second key activity was to investigate existing (including face and iris) as well as new contactless (including hand vein, voice, anthropometric) biometric solutions with respect to their applicability in border control scenarios. The work done involved analyzing the state of the art with respect to each biometric, to verify the usability of current state-of-the-art algorithms for the different border scenarios, including establishing the quality of captured biometric samples under different environmental conditions and, consequently the recognition performance, and to innovate in algorithms for biometric recognition and in sensor development.

A third key activity undertaken was to design and collect a multimodal biometric database under realistic border conditions. The work involved establishing the biometric performance evaluation protocols and database specifications, to undertake a data collection, and to generate the first version of the biometric database, a subset of which which has also been released publicly and according to a strict licensing agreement in order to promote scientific progress and industrial innovation in multimodal biometrics.

A fourth key activity undertaken was to explore the legal, social and ethical issues related to privacy raised by the PROTECT system. This included exploration of current and proposed European legal framework regulating biometric border control in order to identify the privacy and data protection constraints related to the collection, storage, processing and transfer of biometric data in the context of border control.

Finally, the project idea, concepts and proposed solutions have been widely disseminated to experts, stakeholders, and the wider public community during the first year. The project has established a strong Internet presence through a project website and social media channels. A biometrics competition has been organised and held in conjunction with a major biometrics conference, contributing to standards.

Final results

PROTECT, in the first year, has already progressed beyond the state-of-the-art in a number of ways including:

1. New concepts and processes have been researched, developed and documented for less intrusive, faster, usable, accurate and secure biometric border identification systems.
2. Design and development of the first version of the PROTECT system architecture (based on privacy-by-design) and border guard interface.
3. Privacy and data protection issues raised by contactless and multimodal biometric systems deployed in the context of border control have been investigated.
4. All [contactless] biometric modalities studied in PROTECT have been analysed with respect to the applicability to different border control scenarios. Innovations have been made in individual recognition methods, sensor hardware development, and presentation attack detection.
5. Databases and standards: a number of new biometric databases (predominantly the first version of the PROTECT multimodal database) have been produced. A cross-spectrum iris/periocular recognition competition was organised and held in conjunction with IJCB2017, contributing to standards.

The main impact of the PROTECT project is expected to be upon the technical and business levels since the objective of the research and prototyping is to improve border crossing efficiency (for the benefit of travellers and the travel industry) and effectiveness and economy (for government agencies). There will also be opportunities for the European technology industry as current systems of automated border control are refreshed after the five or so year life cycle: the PROTECT concepts can add impetus to the technical refresh process. The market for such systems is not limited to Europe â€“ North America, the Middle and Far East and emerging economies are also very aware of the benefit of strong but flexible border systems. The focus on privacy will also impact legislation and policy makers, as well endâ€users via enhanced identification systems.

To date the project has received considerable attention given its ground breaking concepts and promise of seamless travel (with virtually zero transaction times) for travellers and enhanced facilitation and security for border authorities. It is clear that PROTECT is already facilitating debate amongst all relevant stakeholders and influencing developments worldwide.