Sure, digital IDs are the talk of the town, and continue to gain popularity among travelers, drivers and other citizens. But a new paper from ITW describes the enduring strength of physical IDs, and why they will continue to have a place in a mobile world.

The British passport office shows off the new design for the travel identity documents, which also include a special secondary image of the passport holder, and a construction method designed to thwart criminals. Special watermarks abound, and the new design boasts a ‘perfect alignment’ of inks.

The decades-old technology is holding its own even as secure authentication relies more on biometrics and digital methods of ID. In spite of the newer tech, holograms are appearing on more passports and appear poised to command a place in the emerging mobile ID world.

The Czech company’s advanced card materials have deployed for some 20 million documents in the first half of 2017, a significant jump from last year, and another sign that polycarbonate IDs are on the rise. Even with such growth, Optaglio does not rule out a renaissance of PVC for card security.

The new SecurePrint Laminate Patch for ID cards and driver licenses from the ITW Security Division makes it harder for counterfeiters to compromise document security. The product fulfills Level 1 requirements and promises to make life easier for law enforcement.

A range of new security techniques are providing secure personalization and preventing portrait alteration in driver licenses and other secure IDs. These new techniques make it difficult for counterfeiters to either copy or simulate the personalization data added to the card at the point of issuance. A white paper from ITW Security Division discusses why adding such security features can make life harder for criminals and terrorists.

It is well established that advanced card materials can be used to build more durable, long lasting and counterfeit-resistant ID cards. While 100% PVC cards were once seen as adequate, secure card issuers are widely recognizing their limitations. PVC is cheap, easy to obtain and it can be rapidly printed with off-the-shelf, inexpensive card printers. […]

A new document security feature is creating unique biometric fingerprints for secure ID documents, by mapping patterns of tiny holographic particles spread randomly on a passport, card or banknote. It enables documents to be checked for authenticity — that the specific secure ID document matches the holder — and provides insight into the compromised document if a fraudulent ID was created using pieces from a genuine ID.