WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- The Pentagon is to spend $10 million on mobile biometric readers that can scan fingerprints and irises to check people's identity.
Visage Technology Inc. announced last week that the Defense Department was buying its Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment, which it said was a "rugged ... multimodal device" that could be used to check identities against biometric ID cards or watch-lists, using facial recognition, iris scans or fingerprints.
The device can be can be used as a mobile handheld system or connected to a host computer or network, the company said in a statement. It could be used for "mobile identification of people on the battlefield, at border checkpoints, in airports, in detention centers and for checking people against watch lists."
