Page 11 - Campus Security & Life Safety, March/April 2019

keypad (assuming the staffer has one in the first place).
Accuracy assurance is another key feature. Dana Farber’s scanners (face readers) rely on NIR wavelengths that are completely invisible to the eye (and thus don’t force blinking) and that are not disturbed or thrown-off by a room’s given light, be it from soft fluorescent ceil- ing lamps or bright sunlight through a nearby window. Unlike other facial recognition methods, NIR technology is able to safely reach beyond biological tissue deeper than visible light. For would-be bad
actors, “spoofing” is simply not an option.
Privacy is also a major consideration. While facial recognition
software remembers vast quantities of information, Dana Farber’s system does not require the retention of personally identifiable infor- mation, also known as PII. Its data files do not personally describe the user in any way, and cannot be used to identify any user without the user and a specific device present. As a result, the face of an autho- rized user—one who has already entered his or her credentials into the system—is the only thing that serves as that person’s unique access key. This also allows for speed, portability, and simplicity of operation without creating onerous PII compliance issues on the back end.
“The no PII factor was a big deal for us,” Ralph Nerette, Director of Security and Emergency Risk Management at Dana Farber said. “With so much emphasis on cyber-security and identity theft, every single solution we look at must provide assurances to our employees and contractors that their personal information is safe.”
Finally, secure facial recognition systems, like the one deployed by Dana Farber, operate via a networked approach, which enables the sharing of non-PII data across campuses for interoperable and inter- connected security. This is crucial for hospitals which have seemingly countless “moving parts” at every moment and different groups and subgroups roaming through their hallways and corridors at all times.
For example, some patients are there to attend a routine check-up
while others are admitted into the intensive care unit. Meanwhile, their concerned family members await good news from a doctor or a nurse in a waiting room down the hall with busy receptionists filing paperwork nearby. Also, a medical student or lab assistant may be granted access to some locations but likely not others, including some rooms and buildings that custodial employees are required to clean each night. A surgeon or scientist will likely be found in multiple set- tings around the clock.
All of these individuals must be accounted for each day and none of them have statuses that are permanent: office locations change fre- quently; interns become doctors; healed patients go home. Through it all, a worthy access control system must be able to accommodate constant updates and swift information flow, not to mention user- friendly administration. Easy face scans to quickly get personnel from point A to point B (and of course, to keep bad actors away) is just part of the equation. Having a central application to manage all the data helps give a working system the scalability it needs.
Due to their unique purpose, occupants, and functions, hospitals are treasure mines of valuables—valued patients, valued care-provid- ers, and very valuable equipment, drugs, and information and they must be treated and protected as such. They have the difficult yet essential responsibility of maintaining a place on the security spec- trum somewhere between that of a military fort and a shopping mall. They require the most advanced defense mechanisms on the market, powerful enough to safeguard their operations but agile enough to avoid ever disrupting patient care or urgent research. Only a system premised on efficient access control, reliable interoperability, built-in flexibility, and user convenience could adequately fulfill this service.
NIR facial recognition technology points the way forward for facil- ities craving such a system.
David Dunlap is the Co-Founder of StoneLock.
Untitled-4 1
3/1/19 12:21 PM
Go to sp.hotims.com and enter 723 for product information.
March/April 2019 | campuslifesecurity.com 11