“The vast majority of municipalities already use facial comparison software for passport applications.”
Pilot for unmanned issuance of travel documents
The Municipality of Utrecht is starting a pilot with Oribi GuestID.
Reliable identity verification is essential for municipalities to ensure the integrity of their services. It's the civil servant's responsibility to identify the person at the counter. While this was typically done by visual inspection, many municipalities now use facial comparison technology combined with document verification. This is done, for example, when applying for a travel document. Utrecht wants to go a step further: facial comparison when issuing travel documents without the involvement of a civil servant.
Facial comparison to the column
Unmanned passport and ID card issuance is still a long way off, if only because it's currently not legally permitted. But with the pilot project launched by the municipality of Utrecht, Centric Civil Affairs, and Oribi in November 2024, they're already anticipating a very conceivable future. Facial comparison offers many advantages. It's a weapon against identity fraud, which is a growing problem. Checking a passport photo can be quite difficult, as people can change their appearance. Think of hairstyle, hair color, glasses, weight, and so on.
It thus supports civil servants in their duties. Accurate verification also helps maintain the high quality of the Municipal Personal Records Database (BRP) right from the start. Identity verification ensures better service, shorter queues for residents, and eliminates the need for appointments to collect travel documents.
Smart and safe
Chino Klaverweide-Lorteije, Chief Commercial Officer of Oribi, certainly sees opportunities for unmanned dispensing in the future. “The combination of humans and technology should ensure secure identity verification and prevent identity fraud, ensuring as much certainty as possible that the correct document is issued to the correct applicant. The vast majority of municipalities already use facial comparison software for this purpose during passport applications. Now we're extending that to the back end of the process, the issuing process. Just as we can already retrieve medications from the wall at many pharmacies without a human being involved. This can also be done anytime: 24/7. That's why we're pleased to have launched this pilot program together with the municipality of Utrecht and Centric. You need innovative parties to explore how to organize such a document issuance process in a smart and secure way. Utrecht's ambition to facilitate its employees and residents, our identity verification solution, and Centric's Civil Affairs department are a perfect fit.”
Unmanned issuance for the future
Combination of people and technology
Secure identity verification
How does it work?
The resident checks in at the kiosk and continues with the steps listed above. Is there a match? Then a signal is sent to Centric Civil Affairs to automatically transfer the requested document from the safe to the department via the inventory system. The travel document is delivered to the counter via pneumatic tube. The employee hands over the document.
Document control
The identity document is checked for authenticity and the chip is read.
Reading the passport photo in the chip
The passport photo in the chip of the current travel document is read.
Perform facial comparison
A facial comparison is performed using the camera in the column.
Match?
The resident is identified based on the facial comparison between the two photos.
Innovative column
Last November, it finally happened. The pilot program for unmanned issuance of travel documents began at Utrecht City Hall. Residents collecting their passport or ID card from the Civil Affairs department could choose between having their identity checked the traditional way by a desk clerk. Alternatively, facial comparison was used at the special, innovative kiosk, also known as a self-service kiosk, which uses built-in software and a camera to verify identity. "Only for residents who wanted it," says Marc Quik, Civil Affairs specialist. "The goal was for 300 people to use this during November. Based on the experiences, we will investigate whether facial comparison actually supports our colleagues and whether residents perceive it positively. The technology from supplier Oribi has already proven itself on the application side. Now we will also use it for issuing documents. It's important to note that the actual issuing is done by the civil servant; after all, that's required by law." Kristin van der Veen, Information and Process Manager for Public Affairs at the Municipality of Utrecht, was responsible for streamlining the systems on the work floor. “Is the software from all the different parties compatible? Can the systems communicate with each other? We wanted to seamlessly integrate Oribi’s hardware and software for facial identification and document verification into Centric Civil Affairs’ processes, so colleagues wouldn’t have to switch between systems, but would experience a single, smooth workflow. That was quite a challenge, but we succeeded!”
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