As an added security feature in the card issuing process, a Facial Recognition System (FRS) has been implemented for Manitoba EDLs, EICs, driver’s licences, and identification cards.
FRS helps to prevent the production of fraudulent cards and protect cardholders’ identities by using a person’s digital photo to measure his or her unchanging facial characteristics. Using a complex mathematical formula, the FRS converts these measurements into a unique “face print” (similar to a fingerprint) that can then be used to verify the identity of that person throughout his or her lifetime. It is important to note that, once FRS is used, the face print it creates cannot be used to re-construct that person’s photo (meaning the FRS process only works one way).
If your photograph and signature are processed by an Autopac agent, the agent will not retain, copy, or store this personal information. Your personal information will be transmitted through an encrypted secure connection to Manitoba Public Insurance. Your photo and signature are then stored on a separate Manitoba Public Insurance database on its own secure server.
Manitoba Public Insurance will then run an FRS check on the photo to create your unique “face print” template. The template is then checked against all the FRS templates in Manitoba Public Insurance’s database to ensure that your “face print” is not already on file under another name, and that it matches any previous versions of your “face print” that may already be in the database (for example, if you’ve had your photo taken by Manitoba Public Insurance and it has been checked using FRS before). Only specially-trained and security-checked Manitoba Public Insurance staff have access to this database.
Additional information on FRS and its use for the Manitoba EDL and EIC Program is available in Manitoba Public Insurance’s Facial Recognition brochure.