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Filtered by Technical Features — 43 articles

Francis Tuffy

29 June 2026

3 min read

EINSTEIN Fast-Track Corridor

Global travel volumes continue to increase, placing growing pressure on border authorities managing international border crossings at airports and seaports. When a large cruise ship arrives with thousands of passengers ready to disembark, or when multiple international flights land within a short timeframe, border crossing points can quickly experience congestion that impacts both traveller experience and operational efficiency.

Technical Features

Xiu Ding Chen

29 June 2026

6 min read

The Rise and Rise of the Barcode

Barcodes have long sat awkwardly in the secure document world. They are fast and cheap, but easily copyable. A barcode is printed data, making it easy to clone, reprint or alter. But the industry is rethinking what a barcode is and what it can do. Instead of just holding a reference number that points to a record in a database, the barcode increasingly carries the actual identity data plus a digital signature from the issuer, drastically increasing its security and usefulness.

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Francis Tuffy

27 May 2026

3 min read

Seaborough’s LUMICRYPT Engineers Unique Luminescent Fingerprints

Security printing has always borrowed optical phenomena from physics and chemistry, and few of these phenomena are as useful as luminescence.

Technical Features

Francis Tuffy

27 May 2026

4 min read

Identity Management is the Key to Age Verification

For years, online ‘age gates’ have meant a checkbox, a self-declared birthdate, or a ‘by continuing you confirm you’re over 18’. That is all about to change. Across multiple countries, regulators are now treating age-restricted access as something that must be enforceable, as well as privacy-preserving.

Technical Features

Frank Schmalz

27 April 2026

4 min read

Digital Travel Credentials: The Passport of the Future?

Global travel is not just growing; it is outpacing the infrastructure designed to support it.

Technical Features

Francis Tuffy

27 April 2026

6 min read

10 Years of LASINK™: Colour and Security at the Heart of Sovereign Identity Documents

It’s been 10 years since LASINK™ was introduced into the ID and secure document market. In this technical feature celebrating the impact of the technology, IN Groupe takes a look at what LASINK™ has achieved in improving secure colour portraiture.

Technical Features

Francis Tuffy

20 April 2026

3 min read

MicroCloud Hologram’s Quantum Identity Authentication

A Cayman Islands holding company has issued a statement saying it has developed two ‘practical’ quantum identity authentication schemes based on Grover’s quantum search algorithm. MicroCloud Hologram Inc. (NASDAQ: HOLO) describes one scheme intended for environments with a trusted third party (TTP) and a second scheme designed to operate without a third party, for more decentralised applications.

Technical Features

Francis Tuffy

30 Jan. 2026

3 min read

Update on UK Plans for Digital ID

The UK government announced a new national digital ID scheme in September 2025, framed as a way to modernise access to public services and tighten right-to-work controls. Since then, policy and delivery plans have shifted several times. Now, we take a further look at changes in governance, scope and possible expansion of the scheme.

Technical Features

Francis Tuffy

23 Oct. 2025

3 min read

Full-Parallax Authentication

The demand for high-security document features has driven research into optical technologies capable of producing effects that are both visually striking and extremely difficult to counterfeit.

Technical Features

Francis Tuffy

13 Oct. 2025

2 min read

Thales Launches Quantum-Resistant Smartcard

Thales has unveiled MultiApp 5.2 Premium PQC, which it claims is the world’s first smartcard certified to resist attacks from quantum computers . Certified by ANSSI, France’s national cybersecurity agency, the product incorporates cryptographic signatures based on the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 204, one of the new NIST-approved post-quantum algorithms derived from structured lattice mathematics. This enables the card to withstand future quantum decryption methods that threaten conventional RSA and ECC encryption.

Technical Features

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Andreas Schilling

21 July 2025

3 min read

The Ongoing Value of Physical Identity Documents in the Digital Age

Digital transformation affects all areas of life, including identity documents. The debate as to whether physical ID documents should be phased out in favour of fully digital solutions is still continuing, but has recently lost some of its verve, and for good reason. From a security perspective, and from a merely practical viewpoint, for many use cases, physical identity documents remain irreplaceable. They are, and will continue to be, the anchor of trust for establishing a person’s identity.

Technical Features

Francis Tuffy

21 July 2025

2 min read

Public Engagement in the EU Digital Product Passport

While identity documents and secure credentials form the majority of the content in this newsletter, ID & Secure Document News™ also has a remit to cover the use of technology to provide an identity to the products that we consume. As the digital infrastructure of the EU evolves, the Digital Product Passport (DPP) is emerging as a core regulatory instrument for product traceability and lifecycle data.

Technical Features

Steve Warne

26 June 2025

8 min read

The Growing Importance of Digital Identity Wallets

In recent years, the digitalisation of services has become a key area of focus for governments and businesses alike. With digitalisation comes an increasing reliance on digital interactions, and it is therefore becoming paramount for individuals to possess secure, accessible, and verifiable digital identity credentials.

Technical Features

Francis Tuffy

26 June 2025

2 min read

Optical Technologies and the Fight Against ID Counterfeiting

In an article recently published in Securing Industry, Dr Mark Deakes, chair of the new International Optical Technologies Association (IOTA), sets out how optical technologies are spearheading efforts to protect identity documents.

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Francis Tuffy

27 May 2025

3 min read

Making Sure Professionals Are Who They Claim to Be

A recent online article from Maryia Valchanina, Head of Data Processing at Regula, sheds light on one of the lesser-discussed challenges in the field of document authentication: the verification of professional identity documents.

Technical Features

Francis Tuffy

31 March 2025

2 min read

Well-Engineered Enrolment Kiosks Save Time and Errors

Capturing biometric data has traditionally been a time-consuming and labour-intensive process, requiring significant staff intervention, multiple touchpoints, and presenting a heightened risk of human error. Today, the deployment of advanced enrolment kiosks has transformed these tasks, automating each step of data collection and verification to improve efficiency and accuracy.

Technical Features

Francis Tuffy

17 March 2025

2 min read

Colour-Changing Smart Materials for Rapid Authentication

At the recent High Security Printing™ EMEA conference in Basel, Switzerland, Dr Alexander Brannan from the University of Manchester, and Gary Spinks of Security Fibres UK, presented advances in colour-changing smart materials designed for rapid authentication. This technology addresses key issues in anticounterfeiting by integrating academic research with industrial application.

Technical Features

Francis Tuffy

4 March 2025

3 min read

Quality and Colour: The Unsung Guardians of Secure Documents

If you only read media reports, it would be easy to assume that the most significant advances in identity document security stem from digital innovation, with biometric verification, blockchain-based identity management, and digital certificates dominating discussions.

ID Cards Technical Features

Francis Tuffy

4 March 2025

1 min read

Currency Data Now Available on Tap

Data both allows and creates questions. Answering questions generates information. Information allows decisions and actions. Without accurate, relevant, reliable, consistent, standardised and timely data, creating and delivering anything is hard, particularly change.

Technical Features

Francis Tuffy

24 Feb. 2025

1 min read

Payment Cards with Thermo-Reactive Liquid Crystal Ink

IDEMIA Secure Transactions (IST) has pioneered the use of patented thermo-reactive Liquid Crystal Ink in payment cards, adapting a technology previously used in the fashion industry. This advanced material science innovation enables the ink to transition from black to a dynamic multicolour display when exposed to temperature changes.

Technical Features

Latest News

EINSTEIN Fast-Track Corridor

The Rise and Rise of the Barcode

Seaborough’s LUMICRYPT Engineers Unique Luminescent Fingerprints

Identity Management is the Key to Age Verification

Digital Travel Credentials: The Passport of the Future?

10 Years of LASINK™: Colour and Security at the Heart of Sovereign Identity Documents

MicroCloud Hologram’s Quantum Identity Authentication

Update on UK Plans for Digital ID

Full-Parallax Authentication

Thales Launches Quantum-Resistant Smartcard

The Ongoing Value of Physical Identity Documents in the Digital Age

Public Engagement in the EU Digital Product Passport

The Growing Importance of Digital Identity Wallets

Optical Technologies and the Fight Against ID Counterfeiting

Making Sure Professionals Are Who They Claim to Be

Well-Engineered Enrolment Kiosks Save Time and Errors

Colour-Changing Smart Materials for Rapid Authentication

Quality and Colour: The Unsung Guardians of Secure Documents

Currency Data Now Available on Tap

Payment Cards with Thermo-Reactive Liquid Crystal Ink

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