Biometrics company Ideco has lashed back at reports that it stole the Department of Home Affairs' database a few years ago.
The company, listed on the JSE, was accused of having breached the home affairs fingerprint database when it digitised the system four years ago.
Ideco's turnover was R83 million in the year to August and it made a R12 million loss. The bulk of its revenue comes from selling biometric readers and repairing them.
The company's biometric access control system, EVIM (Electronic Visitor Identity Management), verifies the identity of people entering office parks and housing complexes. It is this system that a story in the Cape Argus last month alleges uses the home affairs database.
Nonsense, says Ideco CEO Vhonani Mufamadi. “We didn't clone the home affairs database. It would be extremely stupid of us to go and do such a thing and believe that we could get away with using that data in SA. It's a severe criminal offence to do that and we simply would not dare.”
The Cape Argus reported that home affairs would investigate the apparent breach of its security. However, spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa was not available to comment this morning.
Double-checking
Mufamadi explains that the EVIM system is simply an electronic tool that captures the same information people usually fill in when entering a complex.
He says the difference is that people “sign” the terminal with a fingerprint, and their identity is verified. “On the device, you can't sign with a pen... a fingerprint is an irrefutable form of signature.”
The fingerprint is also encrypted and turned into a string of numbers, before being saved in a secure database, Mufamadi says.
He explains that it cannot be turned from numbers back into a fingerprint, but is used for verification purposes if someone claims they were not at a certain place at a certain time.
In addition, says Mufamadi, the identity numbers are checked against a secured database run by TradeRef. He says the database is audited by the National Credit Regulator - responsible for enforcing the National Credit Act - and complies with the same laws as the credit bureaus.
TradeRef was founded in 2003 and provides trade reference information on consumers to its clients to mitigate fraud and bad business practices.
In addition, says Mufamadi, the system requires people's permission before checking their ID numbers against the database. He adds that the electronic system is more secure than a paper sign-in one, which is susceptible to being stolen from a guard's hut.
The misconception arises because the entire process is automated, and not paper-based, he adds. “If [only] people could just ditch this tech phobia.”
Government work
Mufamadi, brother of politician Sydney Mufamadi, who was minister of safety and security between 1994 and 1999, says he hopes to benefit from more government tenders.
At the moment, he is awaiting a decision on the Gauteng Department of Health's smart card tender. The pilot project was completed in 2008. “Of course, we would have liked it to be concluded,” he says.
ITWeb reported in December that progress on the project, which would store medical information in a chip on a card, had stalled because of a legal battle.
Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu appealed a court decision to prevent any payouts to 3P Consulting, which had claimed a breach of contract.
Ideco is also involved in providing a fingerprint service to consumers that allows them to check whether staff members have a criminal record. The system accesses publicly available data and returns a yes or no answer within 24 hours, says Mufamadi.
Mufamadi says his brother's political connections are totally coincidental and this issue has “never come up” as a possible conflict of interest.
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