20 minutes – Police take coffee now with a vein scanner

Biometric identification systems are not only used in "James Bond" movies, but were introduced into our daily lives years ago. Especially with the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, the technology is established.

The most common are fingerprints. But other biometric systems such as facial recognition or iris scanners are also widely used. Their big disadvantage is that they are not safe from pirates.

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The image of the vein is unique in every human being. The fingerprint is also unique, but remains confusing. The vein scanner is said to be ten times safer than an iris scanner, 100 times more than a fingerprint sensor and 1000 times safer than facial recognition.

This biometric security system would also like to take advantage of the police of the city of St. Gallen. "We are introducing vein scanners for the 260 police officers in the city," Roman Kohler, spokesman for the St. Gallen City Police Department, told Keystone-SDA. To this end, the veins of the hands of all affected people have been read.

For doors and lockers

The police officers were first informed internally. "There have been no negative reactions or concerns," Kohler said. Starting in December, venous scanners should be used at the main entrances of the city police. Technical adjustments are in progress. The system is not much more expensive than the conventional opening system, which should be replaced sooner anyway.

"In the future, Handvenen scanners should replace badges," said Kohler. They should also be used in lockers or coffee machines. Badges could be lost or forgotten – "this can not happen with the veins of the hands," says Kohler. Unlike biometric systems, which rely on external features, in the vein scanner by hand, the veins hidden inside the body are used for identification and authentication.

Standard ID

The uniqueness of the venous pattern provides a high degree of security. It can not be copied or falsified. It was almost impossible to falsify an identity and this had never been done before, said the makers of Handvenen scanners.

Basically, the system can support all operations that typically require a key, badge, code, ID, card, or signature.

The identity card is not canceled at the St. Galler Municipal Police. According to Kohler, all Swiss police officers should receive a uniformed identity card. "And the uniform is a kind of identity card for the police."

(SDA)