Gemalto, a Thales company, will implement the Canadian Department of National Defence’s (DND) first Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) to increase security and reliability in the collection and verification of fingerprint records.
 
A recent initiative undertaken by the Government of Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to advance public safety measures has led to the digitalization of biometric records across the country which will allow for faster and more accurate criminal and civil identity checks. Canada’s DND is the latest to modernize their capabilities.
 
Gemalto’s AFIS will provide a central, digital repository which will then be managed and operated by DND. In addition to the storage itself, the system will collect, process, enroll and verify this biometric data for enrollment/hiring, security clearances and policing.
 
Information collected from existing booking stations, known as LiveScans, across the country will feed into the DND’s AFIS and be submitted to the RCMP central AFIS, also provided by Gemalto. Both systems may support facial recognition, DNA, and other forms of biometric identification in the future.
 
“Thales has a long and successful history delivering mission critical solutions to Canada’s Armed Forces. After 19 years of working with Canadian local and national law enforcement agencies to provide biometric security services and solutions, we are proud to deliver this important security capability to the Department of National Defence,” said Rob Cimperman, VP government programs at Thales. “The addition of an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) and Disaster Recovery (DR) site demonstrates Canada’s commitment to protecting its citizens and keeping Canada safe.”