A fingerprint-recognizable ID card developed by a South Korean biometric solution startup has been adopted by the United States for use in security access control of employees working at 18 UN agencies, including the United Nations Children`s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The smart ID card is expected to be used as early as November.

According to market sources on Monday, the UN has recently signed a contract with Korea Smart ID (KSID) to adopt fingerprint recognition-based ID cards that allow UN employees working for its 18 affiliated organizations to access their computers and enter the buildings. The UN has led a global integration project to streamline its employee ID card system driven by different technologies and systems depending on agencies.

KSID`s fingerprint-recognizable card has an embedded sensor that authenticates the user’s identity when the user places a finger on the bottom right of the card. The failure recognition rate is a one 100,000th of 1 percent, and can work even at 70 degrees Celsius and minus 20 degrees, according to the company.

Few companies have commercialized such a biometric card that integrates a fingerprint sensor and a battery into the card with biometric information stored only inside the card.

By Cho Hee-young

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