REGINA – Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) is extending its deadline by two weeks for vendors interested in submitting a proposal for future facial recognition services. Originally, vendors had until Feb. 13 to submit their proposals.
SGI says some vendors asked to more time to get proposals in after announcing it was issuing a request for proposals for driver’s licence and identification card production services on Dec. 19, 2014. The new deadline is Feb. 27.
Facial recognition technology measures a person’s unique facial characteristics from a photo and creates a numeric template, which is then compared to others in the system. SGI intends to use the technology to protect its customers from identity theft and to prevent suspended drivers from obtaining a duplicate licence by using a false identity.
“People that aren’t supposed to be on the road, so somebody with a suspended licence, it will keep them from being able to obtain a duplicate licence,” said SGI spokesperson Kelley Brinkworth.
READ MORE: Calgary police first in Canada to use face recognition software
Customers will continue to have their picture taken at SGI affiliates and receive photo identification (ID) cards. The crown corporation’s current five-year contract for driver’s licence production expires at the end of March 2016.
Saskatchewan will be one of the last provinces in Canada to implement facial recognition software in its driver’s licensing programs.
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