Interpol, Google app sniffs out fake goods

NDTV reports.

The Interpol Global Register (IGR), announced at a Google conference outside Los Angeles, aims to track illicit goods by verifying products through security features, using the scanning app.

According to The Sofia Globe, unique security features can be placed on any type of consumer goods - such as pharmaceuticals, cigarettes, luxury items, household goods and toys - “and in an unprecedented move, the Interpol Global Register will actively engage and empower the public, rights holders and law enforcement officials by enabling anyone with a mobile phone or Internet-connected device to verify a product's legitimacy by screening these features to help determine whether the product is fake or being illicitly traded”, the organisation said in a statement.

Searches can be conducted by entering details manually or scanning a code via mobile applications available on the Android, Apple, Microsoft and BlackBerry platforms, which will then deliver fact, accurate and location-based information, making it a global resource for law enforcement and, equally as important, protecting the public from potentially life-threatening fake products, such as counterfeit medicines.

Times of India quotes Google chief Eric Schmidt as saying: "In a connected world, vulnerable people will be safer, trafficking victims can learn their rights, can find opportunities; organ harvesters can be named and brought to justice. Connection protects us... together we can use technology to protect the world.

"We came up with this idea that will allow a consumer or law enforcement or businesses to scan a code and determine whether or not it can be verified as authentic," he added. "It becomes green or red. Green means verified, red means not verified."