JOIN USAuthenTrac, launched by testing & skills assessment firm MeritTrac, claims to be India’s first candidate biometric authentication service.
According to a controlled experiment carried out by the company, just over 60 per cent of experienced invigilators could identify less than 50 per cent of forged signatures. The process of authentication in the traditional paper-pencil mode is to match the facial features of the candidate with the photograph on the hall ticket, and to match the signature of the
candidate on the hall-ticket with the one on the attendance sheet.
While there are several drawbacks of the photograph verification (old photos, smudged prints, etc), it is also is not recorded anywhere at all and hence the signature becomes the sole artifact of authentication once the examination is conducted, the company adds.
To strengthen this ‘weakest’ link in the evaluation system, the company came out with a system that ensures authenticity of candidates through a combination of biometric fingerprint imprint and a digital photograph captured at the examination.
To enable this, a hand-held device featuring an optical scanner of 500 dpi (fingerprint reader), camera, keypad, display screen and optionally a bar code or smart-card reader, all housed within a single unit, was created. It can be connected to the internet directly and transfer data to and from an application server using TCPIP/FTP.
Besides, a software application has been developed that can synchronise scheduled candidate data to the device and map it with the data collected at the examination.
"It will be a scalable solution that could be used by educational institutions and examination authorities alike in ensuring fair examination processes," Dr R Natarajan, Former Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education, said.