D4FLY

Project Data

Project title: Detecting Document frauD and iDentity on the fly

Programme: H2020-EU.3.7. - Secure societies - Protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens

Topic: SU-BES02-2018-2019-2020 - Technologies to enhance border and external security

Contract Number:833704

EC funding: € 1 173 825,00

Duration: 1 September 2019 - 31 August 2022

Project Coordinator: Armin Reuter, Veridos (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) 

PPA contacts: Mr. Dimitris Spyrou (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), Mrs Stamatia Tzevelekou (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

PPA budget:111.125,00 Euros (100% financed by Horizon 2020)

PROJECT SUMMARY

• Biometric technologies for the verification of traveler’s identities on-the-move through 3D face, iris, and somatotype recognition
• Smartphone applications for enhanced traveler verification
• Thermal and multispectral imaging for counter spoofing
• Advanced morphed face detection algorithms through Convolutional Neural Networks
• Deep Neural Networks and advanced methods for impostor and document fraud detection
• Computer vision algorithms for automated passport forgery detection
• Ethical, legal, social impact assessment of the developed technologies

The overall D4FLY concept is to identify, reduce and avoid vulnerabilities in the identity lifecycle of modern border management, thereby strengthening European Smart Borders against serious and organized crime. It does this by exploring, developing and validating new technologies for identity and document verification – including biometrics-on-the-fly, and even explores how this could work in risk-based border management concepts.
The D4FLY project will augment the current capabilities and capacities of border authorities in countering emerging threats in document and identity verification (e.g., forged documents, impostor fraud, morphed faces) at manual and highly automated border control points and in the issuance process of genuine documents.
The D4FLY set of tools and systems will improve the quality of verification and reduce major time sinks in the processes, thus enabling a real on-the-move border crossing experience for travelers.
The D4FLY solution will consist of a border control kiosk geared with enhanced enrolment, verification, and detection capabilities; smartphone applications for improved performance and verification capabilities, and a non-stop on-the-move system for biometric verification. Four different border control points and one document fraud expertise center will form the project’s testing and demonstration ground.
Novel sensor hardware based on advanced lightfield cameras and novel algorithms developed in the project will enhance verification accuracy and robustness via the combined usage of 2D+thermal face, 3D face, iris, and somatotype biometrics. Additionally, analytical means to identify known criminals based on somatotype and 3D face data generated from mugshots and observation data will be developed.

D4FLY will also create a resilient document verification system that can verify a multitude of physical and electronic security features (e.g., Kinegrams®, MLIs, CLIs), detect complex forms of electronic fraud and advanced morphing, and identify fraud in breeder documents. The potential benefit of blockchain technology in identity verification will also be investigated.

All our tools and solutions will be validated against European societal values, fundamental rights, ethics, privacy, data protection and applicable legislation.

The D4FLY objectives

Short term

Objective 1 – To identify existing or possible future fraud methods in regard to travel documents and identity.

Objective 2 – To create new technologies in automated document fraud, face morphing and impostor attack detection to overcome the limitations of current document readers and corresponding software in automated and non-automated border control scenarios.

Objective 3 – To enable new technologies in unobtrusive person identification that improve the recognition of travellers on-the-move as well as known suspects giving special focus on applicability to the given infrastructure.

Medium – long term

Objective 4 – To produce evidence-based knowledge on document fraud and biometrics on the fly in compliance with European societal values, fundamental rights and applicable legislation, supported by end users by applying agile methodologies and developing demonstrators in different border control scenarios, inspired by privacy- and security by design.

Objective 5 – To provide a cost-benefit analysis and plan for the take up of the project results after the completion of the project, having first established the legal and social propriety of such initiatives. This will give the legislative initiative in the “Smart Borders” package, European border and law-enforcement agencies, European technology suppliers a perspective for their respective further development.

FIELD TESTS

Netherlands

Solutions for enhanced document checks, focusing on breeder documents verification at document issuance centers and enhanced document verification with face morphing detection at BCPs.

Greece

BCP and biometrics on-the-move identification solutions addressing bottleneck issues of high-volume of passengers travelling by cruise ships.

Lithuania

Solutions for land border checks offering advanced document verification and assisting impostor fraud detection.

UK

Document & identity verification solutions for no-fixed post checks for coach travelers. Highly automated on-the-move border control solutions for addressing delay in checking high volumes of travelers arriving by train.

D4FLY TEST SCENARIOS

Piraeus Port field test

Scenario 2a : A highly automated border post with a high volumes of travellers arriving in waves
Location profile : Greece: Piraeus Cruise Port
Border type : Maritime: BCP for passengers travelling by cruise ships
Participants: Hellenic Police (acting as Border Guard), Piraeus Port Authority (acting as Port
Operator)
Traffic/Travellers/Controls: Cruise travelling is a relatively new, emerging and developing form of transportation and tourism especially in the Mediterranean. Statistics show that the number of cruise travellers crossing the Piraeus Port can reach up-to 20000 per day. Two types of passengers, home and transit, are identified in the process depending on whether they exit permanently from the ship to the destination country or they exit the ship, visit the country and come back to the ship to continue their cruise.

Challenges: A large flow of disembarking passengers creates bottlenecks and delays in the control procedures at BCPs. Due to resources and time restrictions to cover the large amount of passengers’ traffic, it is not feasible to perform all border controls to all cruise passengers. Incidents with travellers trying to embark in Piraeus Port with counterfeit travel documents have been identified both by the Border Control and the cruise operators.

Scope: To identify and notify any potential threats of travellers with stolen or false travel documents. To identify individuals on-the-move that are considered threat to EU security, by applying biometric techniques.

Approach & Processes: Travel documents will be scanned and validated automatically. Multimodal Criminal Biometric Database: A multimodal biometric dataset of known criminals is recruited by the border guard authorities.
Identity verification: At the border crossing point, travellers shall be verified based on the developed not-disruptive matching technology, on-the-move (3D face, Somatotype, Iris, Thermal
to visible 2D face recognition).

Expected impact: Increased capabilities to capture travellers with counterfeit documents and known criminals trying to enter EU. Higher security and more effective analysis of travel by obtaining higher accuracy in detecting impostor fraud. Faster verification and authentication for the travellers stimulating minimal invasive flow.

PROJECT PARTNERS

The project consortium is formed by 19 partners from 11 European countries including universities, SMEs, research institutes and border control authorities.

MARKETING
MATERIAL

 VIDEOS

Two videos are available to present, explain and promote the D4FLY activities

1. The project video is presented below and it is available on https://d4fly.eu/

 2. The video dedicated to PPA field test activities is presented below

NEWS & EVENTS (https://d4fly.eu/category/news/)

FINAL REVIEW
On Tuesday, 18 October 2022, the #D4FLY consortium met in Brussels to present the project results in the final review meeting. Three years of project work under the conditions of the pandemic were challenging and the consortium is proud that the project was nevertheless able to comply with the originally planned project plan.

THE FINAL DEMONSTRATION OF THE PROJECT RESULTS IN PORTSMOUTH, UNITED KINGDOM. (22/06/2022)
The final demonstration of the project results in Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
After two years of reduced travel activities due to the pandemic, the re-opened transportation hubs welcomed us back with thousands of passengers . Three years ago, the EU funded the Horizon 2020 research project, D4FLY, which started with the aim of improving document and identity verification techniques and thus developing border crossing solutions that are faster, more convenient and provide authorities with higher levels of security and accuracy in verification results.

G7 Subject Matter Experts Meeting on Photo-Morphing

On May 10th 2022, D4FLY, represented by Armin Reuter (Veridos), participated in a G7 Subject Matter Experts Meeting on Face Morphing, organized by the Canadian Government.

Final D4FLY documents demonstration in The Netherlands

The third Netherlands field test and final documents demonstration was held in April 2022. A targeted group of more than 100 persons attended in a hybrid meeting, and the capabilities of four demonstrators were shown related to the analysis of travel documents and breeder documents.

D4FLY field tests in International Cruise Ship Terminal in Piraeus Port in Greece

On 21st – 25th of February 2022, the D4FLY team successfully organised and completed the Greek Field Test in the International Cruise Ship Terminal in Piraeus Port in Greece, testing and demonstrating in real environment its identity verification solution for a highly automated on-the-move border control solution for travelers arriving by cruise vessels

D4FLY Field Test successfully took place at the Lithuanian land border

On 2-4 August 2021, a field test of D4FLY innovative tools was conducted at one of the Lithuanian land border control points.

CEPOL: D4FLY project presentation- Document Fraud and Morphed Face images

 D4FLY was invited to present the project and focus topics in a webinar organized by CEPOL in the frame of their trainings series. The webinar was held successfully on the 8th of April 2021.

 D4FLY participated at FRONTEX EXP DOC meeting

D4FLY project was invited by the Frontex Centre of Excellence for combating Document Fraud (CED) to present an overview of its current achievements at the EXP DOC 2nd Plenary Meeting held on 16th of February 2021.

NEWSLETTERS

Four Newsletters inform the public about D4FLY activities and progress. (https://d4fly.eu/newsletter/newsletter-issue-1/)

For more information, please visit the site https://d4fly.eu/