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Letter from NPP Chairman to EC Boss

Letter from NPP Chairman to EC Boss

Written by Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey Friday, 23 September 2011 22:57

We refer you to our previous correspondence on the need to get IPAC convened and deliberating on matters regarding the forthcoming Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise and other issues pertaining to the 2012 general elections.

Our call for specific information and material to enable us convince ourselves that the “tender process” leading to the procurement of equipment and materials is credible has fallen on, sadly, deaf ears.

Click here for full details of letter

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Biometric Experts with questionable referances

Dingley (90.4.149.xxx) 2011-09-27 10:16:20

There are 4 comments I would like to make on this letter by the NPP, but firstly it seems that the two independent IT experts in the field of biometrics commissioned by the NPP are not what they say they are – as can be seen in my comments below:-

1/.. CERTIFICATION OF THE PROPOSED FINGERPRINT HARDWARE.

I totally agree that the devices should be certified devices and there is one certification authority which is accepted World-wide as THE approval/certification authority of biometrics hardware and software for IAFIS Criminal and Civil (i.e. voter) systems and that is the FBI. They have a listing of all the hardware etc which they have tested and approved - for full details see

https://www.fbibiospecs.org/IAFIS/Default.aspx

If either of the 2 shortlisted suppliers is proposing the complete fingerprint solution which is not on this listing then they should be removed as a potential candidate.

2/.. THE FINGERPRINT SCANNERS

The fact that "your biometric Experts" say the...

continuation of previous

Dingley (90.4.149.xxx) 2011-09-27 10:21:00

2/.. THE FINGERPRINT SCANNERS

The fact that "your biometric Experts" say the ""fingerprint scanner of at least 1200dpi should be the minimum requirement"" indicates that they are not at all experts (but just well paid 'advisors). The reason for my statement is that 1200dpi does not exist for fingerprint scanners of this type ... the choice is either 500dpi or 1000dpi.

Of these the 500dpi is the standard used in all existing applications and is priced around US$900 whilst the 1000dpi is priced at over US$2,000 each.

3/.. THE CAMERA HARDWARE

Contrary to what "your biometric Experts" say ..... a webcam or camera of 2 megapixels is more than sufficient for face biometric capture and verification. The US FIPS 201 Approved Products List (see www.fips201.com ) lists all the approved devices and software for the US PIV Cards (government personnel ID Cards) and HSPD-12. An example of this is the Videology's 24C7.38USB 1.3 megapixel camera (and many others...

continuation of previous (3 of 3)

Dingley (90.4.149.xxx) 2011-09-27 10:22:38

4/.. THE AFIS SEARCH ENGINE

In paragraph 3 of your above letter you state ” There is no requirement in the ITT for the provision of an AFIS database and Search engine”. This is not correct ... THERE IS an AFIS database and Search engine in the Tender Requirements – this is for both ‘Local’ 1-to-1 verification (to ensure same person does not try to enrol twice at same centre) and ‘Central’ (to detect double entry).

I understand that as the Voter System AFIS will be held by the EC purely for the enrolment of voters and subsequent verification of voters and that it will be totally separate from any other AFIS i.e. Police, ID Card or Passport databases (existing or future)

Finally if you do need a REAL EXPERT in biometrics (15+ years) you can contact me by adding @orange.fr to my name