DIGIMARC® IDMARC™ INSPECTOR SERIES: CLOSING A CRUCIAL GAP IN IDENTITY DOCUMENT AUTHENTICATION
by Nigel Ward

The battle against the growing global crimes of identity theft and fraud requires powerful tools to ensure positive identity verification. With hundreds of different and valid ID designs and document types being presented at airports, border crossings, retail stores, banks and secure facilities, machine-assisted authentication has become a required first step in the process to reliably determine the authenticity of an ID. The Digimarc IDMarc Inspector Series enables this crucial first step by enabling law enforcement, document issuers and other authorized inspection personnel to positively authenticate identity documents secured with IDMarc security features.

IDMarc: Positive ID authentication for the 21st century
IDMarc closes a crucial gap in the fight against identity crimes by creating a covert, machine-readable, interlocking digital security layer that enables positive ID authentication within and across jurisdictions. Digimarc offers a series of IDMarc Inspector products that provide ready-to-deploy inspection capabilities for use by law enforcement, security staff, airline ticket agents, and DMV employees. This powerful set of tools – in combination with a Digimarc-certified reader device* provides intra- and cross-jurisdictional ID authentication. The IDMarc Inspector is available today for documents that are secured with IDMarc security features, regardless of the document’s design. Additionally, Digimarc offers its IDMarc Inspector Platform in the form of an  easy-tointegrate development kit to systems integrators or VARS who develop identity verification solutions and systems.

IDMarc Inspector Series
Digimarc offers a series of intra and cross-jurisdictional ID authentication, age verification, and forensic analysis applications that are built on a common IDMarc Inspector foundation.

IDMarc Document Inspector
 Using the IDMarc Document Inspector, both issuing authorities and law enforcement personnel can simply and positively authenticate IDs such as driver licenses, irrespective of a document’s design or jurisdiction. The Document Inspector generates an authentic / suspect indication for each ID presented.

IDMarc Age Inspector
Using the IDMarc Age Inspector, law enforcement personnel can simply and positively authenticate driver licenses and verify a document holder’s age without compromising privacy.

For age-controlled events and regulated product sales, authorities face enormous responsibility when verifying the age of a document holder – especially given the hundreds of different driver license designs and types presented at events and points of sale. The Age Inspector indicates document authenticity and, for authentic documents, it indicates if the age inspection criteria is met, thus combining the tasks of driver license authentication and age verification and helping to enforce regulations. This application enables:

  • Improved public safety
  • Reduced costs associated with personnel training
  • Fewer mistakes caused by human error

IDMarc Forensic Inspector
Using the IDMarc Forensic Inspector, document issuers and law enforcement officials are able to positively authenticate and analyze identity documents that are secured with the IDMarc feature. The product performs forensic analysis on suspect or fraudulent identity documents and provides details about the IDMarc feature that are useful in analyzing the nature of document attacks.

How does it work?
The first step in determining someone’s identity is to inspect and authenticate his or her identity document. The IDMarc Inspector Series, powered by the IDMarc Inspector Platform, detect and compare the interlocking IDMarc security feature(s) embedded in the artwork of the ID. The applications indicate whether a document is authentic or suspect. Additional information is displayed based on each application’s user environment.

The IDMarc Inspector Series rely on hardware, software, or network security models supported by the underlying Inspector platform to ensure that applications can only be used by authorized users.

IDMarc Inspector Series system requirements

  • Microsoft® Windows XP or Windows 2000 with Service Pack 2 or later. Windows 2000 users will need the Microsoft .NET runtime module, which is supplied on CD.
  • Requires two available USB ports
  • CD-ROM drive to access software and documentation

Features and Benefits of the IDMarc Inspector Platform

IDMarc Finder

  • Automatically locates and authenticates IDMarc features regardless of document design or type.
  • Enhances IDMarc detection performance and simplifies inspection application development

Standard Payload Decoder

  • Expedites integration and deployment of IDMarc inspection applications for North American driver license documents by ensuring proper IDMarc payload decoding and backward compatibility
  • Further accelerates application development by providing self-authentication, age verification, and forensic analysis functionality through well-defined application programming interfaces (APIs)

Multi-IDMarc Feature Detection

  • Capable of detecting and decoding IDMarc feature(s) using different IDMarc Keys. Application developers can support multiple document types and jurisdictions using a common application resulting in lower integration, maintenance and support costs

Comprehensive Security Model

  • Architecture supports hardware, network, and software-based security technologies to:
    • Ensure software shrouding against unauthorized copying and reverse engineering;
    • Provide flexible and secure IDMarc “key” protection against unauthorized usage;
    • Provide appropriate security based on the inspection environments requirements.

High Performance Decoding

  • Capable of reading card images containing the IDMarc feature within an average time of 255 milliseconds (*). This high speed read capability supports the development of high performance multi-feature inspection applications

IDMarc Inspector Platform system requirements

  • Microsoft® Windows 2000 or XP
  • Requires USB port for a security device, or a TCP/IP connection to a supplied network security provider (secure server running Windows 2000 or XP)
  • Works with certified image acquisition devices (see Digimarc for certification requirements and list of certified vendors and devices).

Ships with:

  • IDMarc Inspector SDK interface and runtime modules
  • Sample IDMarc Inspector application source code for Microsoft Visual C++
  • Digimarc Image Acquisition API System Documentation

Secure your identity documents with the Digimarc IDMarc Inspector
To learn how the Digimarc IDMarc Inspector Series can help your organization, call our sales group at to schedule an on-site presentation.

*Requires an image of the document. Digimarc maintains a list of certified-reader products from a variety of leading vendors.