QUESTION:  Okay, so you have some customers who like your system, but how many systems are out there and how many have stopped using them?

ANSWER:  After being used by the Federal Government to protect high security installations and personnel  in the wake of September 11, 2001 terrorism, the core Visual-AIDD technology (software and hardware) was approved recently for use in protecting private sector businesses being dogged by false IDs and fake state drivers licenses. Since launching this private sector solution in early 2010, Advanced ID Detection has sold and installed almost 100 systems beginning in our own Massachusetts backyard, which has a disproportionate share of America’s universities and colleges. The Boston area alone has more than 300,000 college students. To date, no systems have been returned by an Advanced ID Detection customer; in fact, they have been recommending the system to other establishments.  The system has established a reputation as one that actually works!

The story had gotten even better in early 2011 as the Visual-AIDD system was recently used to test fake drivers licenses shipped to the Boston area from China for use by underage students seeking to buy alcohol illegally. Although seemingly okay to the naked eye, these Chinese-fabricated IDs failed when inserted into the AIDD-150 scanner.  In fact, it detected as fake each and every one of the licenses for which U.S. college students had shelled out thousands of dollars for several dozen IDs.  It is fair to say that the false ID industry has now met its match.

QUESTION: How is the Visual-AIDD system different from other ID Checking systems?

ANSWER: To begin with, those who make a very good living fabricating and selling fake IDs at inflated prices can and do buy the same ID creation hardware and software, thermal card printers and color print ribbons used to personalize drivers licenses and other IDs. So, the bad guys have the same technology as our federal, state, and local authorities. The criminals also have in recent years adapted to the enhanced security overlays and sophisticated card features used by state motor Vehicle bureaus so that, to the naked eye of the retail liquor sales clerk, many fake IDs look entirely acceptable. This is true even when the cashier has on hand a booklet or magnifying glass and light source to help identify phony drivers licenses.

In addition, the phony card makers can encode magnetic stripes and print 2D barcodes that are standard elements of most modern drivers licenses and are readable in scanners for data collection or identification purposes.  Not surprisingly, as U.S. authorities have gotten more security conscious in designing and issuing their State drivers licenses and other IDs,  international criminals who monopolize this illicit business have ratcheted up their own capabilities as well.  

Against the technical security challenge from motivated criminal organizations, the older “age verification systems” are overmatched and cannot do the job. Frankly, most of the time they leave a retail store owner feeling secure when in fact the only thing the simple age-calculating device has done is provide backstopping for an entirely false ID … and placed the retail owner’s business at risk!

Yes, the Visual-AIDD system catches the newer high tech fake IDs from China (idchief, etc.) that are so popular among college students (even with their realistic holograms, UV, and scannable barcodes and mag stripes)!

This brings us to the heart of the matter: Advanced ID Detection’s Visual-AIDD System is the only one that can do for the retail liquor store, restaurant, convenience store or social club what needs to be done to weed out underage drinkers before they make a purchase.     

Specifically, Visual-AIDD is a huge technological leap over all other systems:

• It reads not only the printed barcode and encoded magnetic stripe data but the printed text as well on the front of the ID. In milliseconds it compares the front-of-ID printed text to the machine readable data contained in the barcode and magnetic stripe. (This feature detects IDs and drivers licenses that have been manually tampered with by the underage person.)

• In milliseconds it captures a full 24 bit (16 million colors), 600 dpi (2.6 Mega pixel) image of both sides of the license as well as an infrared image. 

•  It pulls out the data for logging purposes and automatically calculates age of the person, expiration date of the document, as well as displaying a large-size photo from the drivers license for comparison to the person presenting the ID. It helps prevent “imposter or look-alike fraud” because the cashier is able to view a 4” x 5” or larger image on the monitor rather than the standard 1” x 1.1/4” photo printed on a regular drivers license. Underage buyers get real skittish when they know the drivers license photo is being seen on a large scale by the cashier who now can detect an impostor so much easier.

• It checks for the presence or absence of critical security features such as microprint, holograms, and visible or infrared patterns.

• Finally, the Visual-AIDD System doesn’t just feed raw data to the sales clerk . What busy cashier coping with a line of checkout customers has the patience, time or discipline to make ID verification decisions that can be very complex and challenging? Anyone who thinks this is not a problem has never been in a liquor store, restaurant, or convenience store on Friday and Saturday night nor has he been at a club on Super Bowl or Daytona 500 weekend. And here is one great virtue in automatic computer-based ID detection:  Visual-AIDD never gets tired, never gets hassled, never gets distracted or conned by a bright smile or pretty face.  Instead,  in 5-7 seconds it does an evaluation and displays on the monitor an immediate assessment on whether the ID is likely to be genuine or a fake.

In summary, when you purchase an ID verification system, you should get what you need and what you pay for; in the case of the Visual-AIDD System, that is precisely what you will get.

QUESTION:  That sounds pretty good, but let’s say I’m a bit of a technical geek.  Tell me how the Visual-AIDD system really works and does what you describe above.

 ANSWER: Well, you asked for it. Without revealing all of our security tricks for detecting and defeating the fake ID industry, the AIDD-150 scanner does a lot of things in the 5-7 seconds  before announcing its findings on the monitor.

• First, as mentioned earlier, it captures the presented ID or drivers license on both sides in full color at a 600 dpi resolution.  In addition, the magnetic stripe is read, stored, and decoded.   Three high resolution images are the result: front and back of the ID scanned in the visible spectrum as well as the front image scanned in Near-Infrared (NIR) which detects the presence of true black or carbon-based ink. 
  
  

• Using a unique patented process, the ID is classified by comparing the front image and format  to known image characteristics of over 2000 ID types in the AIDD Document Library.  The ID can be categorized by:
  
       a)  Issuing agency (e.g. Massachusetts Motor Vehicle Registry);
       b)  Type of ID (e.g., Driver’s License, “Under 21 ID”, Learning Permit, Commercial Drivers License, etc.), and
       c)  Series (e.g., 2010 or 2011).  
  
  Because Advanced ID Detection continually updates its Document Library (typically requiring as many as 300 document additions or changes each month), it is unusual that a drivers license or publicly-issued ID is not recognized. When there is no match in the AIDD database, it is classified as “Unknown” and the retail store owner typically refuses to accept it as valid for alcohol purchase.

• When the ID or drivers license is recognized and can be classified by Visual-AIDD, it is analyzed both for content and authenticity.   According to the type of ID, the locations of all printed fields are known.  Specialized image processing is applied to read any textual information contained therein.  If magnetic stripe or barcode data are present, they are read,, decoded and placed into  their respective fields.   From the stored templates, we can derive highly accurate textual fields representing the data on the ID (e.g. Name, Address, Date of Birth, Expiration, Issue Date, Sex, biometrics such as Height, Weight, Hair/Eye Color, etc.).  Mismatches between data derived from printed text,, barcode, or magnetic stripe are easily detected. 

• Based on the specific ID type, a wide range of other forensic or CSI-like tests are performed on the ID to check for the presence or absence of known security features on the front, back or NIR images.  These includes examining such security devices as microprint, true color integrity, holograms, and the relative position of fields.  

• From all this processing the AIDD System arrives at what we call an “AIDD Risk Score” which is represented by a number from 0 (very low risk) to 10 (a highly suspect ID).  A risk score higher than a preset threshold (typically 5) generally results in a rejected ID.

• Within 5-7 seconds of inserting the ID,  the cashier gets a “decision” when the Visual-AIDD Interface displays a quick overview of the results of the ID testing.  It displays on the monitor whether the ID is expired, the age of the person (derived from the date of birth), and a pass/fail indicator (Red X if failed, Green Checkmark if passed).  Specific problems with the ID are also displayed.  The license photo of the person is extracted and displayed in an enlarged format on the monitor so the cashier can make an easy visual comparison of the ID photo and the presenter standing right in front of him. In short, an automatic check of an ID for content and authenticity takes place in a few seconds. Ironically, rather than slowing things down the Visual-AIDD System can save checkout time because there is less room for confusion, for sorting ID-related issues out, or for squabbling with the potential underage would be purchaser.

QUESION: What kinds of IDs does the Visual-AIDD system read?

ANSWER: The AIDD Document Library includes virtually all drivers licenses and other ID documents used for public purposes here in North America (U.S., Canada, and Mexico).

• The Visual-AIDD System can deal with pretty much all North American and Government-issued ID cards. At any time, there are multiple generations of each State’s drivers license in circulation which remain valid until reaching their individual expiration date --- even though a State no longer issues IDs in that format.

• In addition to the basic Operator Drivers License, state authorities issue other variations such as Under 21 Licenses, Commercial or Chauffeur Drivers Licenses, Learners Permits, and even  ID Cards not used for driving. Each of these documents may have a slightly different format in terms of printing style and data field print location, logos, photo placement, coloration and security features.

• So many varieties are in circulation that no one can know them all --- even with the aid of an annual booklet of State drivers licenses that is most probably out of date before it is printed -- since changes are made every month of the year across North America.

• The Visual-AIDD System has been “trained” in many hundreds of ID and drivers license formats and security features including: US Military IDs, Alien Registration or “Green” Cards, Border Crossing Cards, U.S. Passport Cards, Mexican “Matricula” Cards issued by Mexican Consulates here in the States, and many more.

• Each month, AIDD updates its retail customer software to include hundreds of updates, additions, and changes to the its  ID Document Library so that AIDD customers are truly the best informed people in the county --- so much so that state and local law enforcement increasingly drop by AIDD customer locations to check out questionable IDs or drivers licenses. This, we are told, strengthens the relationship between Visual-AIDD users and local law enforcement personnel, who appreciate that the retail store, restaurant or club has made a strong effort to comply with the underage drinking laws. Indirectly, it enhances security of retail alcohol establishments and  personnel by encouraging supportive local law enforcement officers to drop by on a friendly versus an adversarial basis. Why, as one of our customers reports above, even the local MADD people like it!   
  

   

QUESTION: What about foreign licenses?

ANSWER: The Visual-AIDD System covers North American licenses and IDs, including State- or Province-issued IDs from the US, Canada, and Mexico and Central America (e.g. Guatemala).   We offer optional international coverage of most common foreign driver’s licenses, IDs, voter cards, consular cards, etc. In fact, the same ID engine technology used in Visual-AIDD is used around the world at international borders, airports, car rental locations, as well as government offices to check passports, as well as local licenses and IDs. It is really a matter of properly training the system on the new documents and hoping that the foreign issuing authority has done its job properly.  In most instances, establishments elect not to accept foreign drivers licenses and IDs for the sale of alcohol because they can’t be sure of the authenticity of the license and  widespread fraud that surrounds such licenses.  Visual-AIDD can increase your confidence level quite a bit!