IDEMIA provides INTERPOL with an enhanced Multibiometric Identification System to support its 196 member countries

• Building on a partnership of over 20 years with IDEMIA, the global leader in identity technologies, INTERPOL has taken the next step to combat international crime alongside its member countries.
• IDEMIA is supplying a state-of-the-art fingerprint and facial recognition system that can rapidly identify potential Persons of Interest (POIs) for police investigations (phase 1) and border control needs (phase 2).
• IDEMIA’s latest Multibiometric Identification System (MBIS), MBIS 5, incorporates enhanced capabilities such as a higher matching accuracy rate and more user-friendly interfaces.

Today, on the occasion of INTERPOL’s 91st General Assembly – and 100th anniversary – the world’s largest international police organization announces the launch of its enhanced BioHUB, powered by IDEMIA’s newest Multibiometric Identification System (MBIS).

Cutting-edge technology to help law enforcement worldwide

This latest version, MBIS 5, integrates new generation algorithms which provide a higher matching accuracy rate with a shorter response time and a more user-friendly interface. The first phase of its deployment to enhance the identification of potential Persons of Interest (POIs) for police investigations has already been operational since October 2023.

The second phase, which will be rolled out over the next two years, will extend this tool to border control points. The system will then be able to perform up to 1 million forensic searches per day, including fingerprints, palm prints and portraits, making it the top performing automated biometric identification system on the market.

IDEMIA’s commitment to excellence is reflected in its consistently top-ranked identity and security technologies. IDEMIA still leads the biometric tech race covering iris, fingerprint and face recognition. NIST’s (National Institute of Standards and Technology) latest test results underscore IDEMIA’s outstanding expertise and solutions combining efficiency, accuracy and equity.¹

INTERPOL, creating a safer world

INTERPOL currently has 196 member countries and enables law enforcement agencies from around the world to work together to make the world a safer place. INTERPOL’s high-tech infrastructure of technical and operational support helps meet the growing challenge of combating crime in the 21st century.

Facial recognition is an important and rapidly evolving technology that has opened up many new opportunities to identify individuals and solve crimes. In 2016, INTERPOL opted for IDEMIA’s advanced facial recognition capabilities to create the INTERPOL Face Recognition System (IFRS). The IFRS contains face images from more than 170 countries, and since its launch, thousands of terrorists, criminals, fugitives, POIs, and missing persons have been identified. In 2019, INTERPOL renewed its contract with IDEMIA to upgrade the current system and transform it into a Multibiometric Identification System (MBIS).

A longstanding collaboration

IDEMIA and INTERPOL first began their collaboration in 1999, when IDEMIA delivered the original Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). The AFIS was designed to make cooperation easier between police forces from member countries by giving them access to global police tools and services, namely forensics, fingerprint evidence and the exchange of forensic data to support international investigations.

Through AFIS, authorized users in member countries can view, submit, and cross-check these records using INTERPOL’s secure global police communications network.

In the same way that criminals use ever more innovative and sophisticated ways to avoid detection, law enforcement must also leverage the latest advances in technology, especially in biometric security, to better combat all forms of transnational crime. INTERPOL’s enhanced partnership with IDEMIA will further help our member countries better protect their borders and communities.
Cyril Gout, INTERPOL’s Director of Operational Support and Analysis

IDEMIA is proud to be collaborating with INTERPOL again and to continue making the world a safer place for all. This project reinforces our longstanding partnership with INTERPOL, which has been going strong for over 20 years. With the delivery of the new MBIS, developed thanks to our strong dedication to R&D, INTERPOL will have access to cutting-edge fingerprint, palm print and face identification technologies, enabling it and member countries to identify persons of interest faster than ever before. We look forward to many more years of supporting INTERPOL to ensure the safety of potentially billions of citizens around the world.
Matt Cole, Group Executive Vice President, Public Security and Identity at IDEMIA

¹ IDEMIA’s iris recognition algorithm came in top of the latest NIST Iris Exchange (IREX 10) ranking. IDEMIA’s fingerprint template generator algorithm was placed top in the NIST Minutiae Interoperability Exchange (MINEX III) ranking. And IDEMIA’s facial recognition technology yet again came first among the Face Recognition Vendor Test’s (FRVT) 100 most accurate algorithms in flagging up false face matches.