DOVIDs – Secure Protection for Identity Documents

Despite the developments in digital ID solutions, there is a continual need for physical documents. In protecting these, the omission of advanced security features can result in substandard documents that are easy for counterfeiters to simulate.

Public money that is ‘saved’ by selecting the least expensive, ‘technically compliant’ solution is far exceeded by the down-stream costs associated with document counterfeiting that are borne by governments and societies afterwards.

Sophisticated and well-integrated diffractive optically variable image devices (DOVIDs) are considered one of the leading forms of counterfeit-resistant security features. They are easy and intuitive to verify, and a sound basis for a strong security architecture for identity documents.

Particularly desirable for counterfeit resistance are DOVIDs that can be regularly upgraded with each new document design by including new and unique optical effects or combining disparate technologies in one single security feature. Such elements also offer a unique potential for advanced design integration, making documents more secure and more attractive at the same time.

As highly sophisticated security features, DOVIDS help to easily distinguish counterfeits from authentic documents, fighting crime and preventing illegal acts. As an embedded or surface-applied security feature, they protect the photograph and biographic data of ID documents, and enable: 

• on-the-spot reliable authentication

• unparalleled versatility in their appearance

• customisation by integration of specific designs, characteristics or colours

• well-proven reliability and approval of experts

• manipulation resistance, high durability and robustness against wear and tear.

DOVIDs can also be manufactured for optical machine authentication in accordance with ICAO’s Doc 9303 for machine-readable travel documents. Additionally, DOVIDs can be verified using mobile phones during remote ID validation processes.

Constraints on a government´s budget for producing new identity documents risk critical shortcomings in both document design and the selection of security features, which in turn has a direct impact on the proliferation of high-quality counterfeits. Sufficient investment in the security of identity tokens proactively contributes to lowering the detrimental costs of counterfeiting and identity-related crimes.