Long before the first United States-bound travellers had their fingerprints scanned by the US Department of Homeland Security, farm workers in rural South Africa were using biometrics to clock in at work each morning.
The hundred or so workers on De Wet Thirion’s grape farm near Upington in the Northern Cape have their fingerprints scanned when they arrive and leave work each day.
The term biometrics has been used since early in the 20th century to refer to the field of development of statistical and mathematical methods applicable to data-analysis problems in the biological sciences. Recently, the term has also been used to refer to the emerging field of technology devoted to the identification of individuals using biological traits, such as those based on retinal or iris scanning, fingerprints or face recognition.
The biometric time and attendance system developed by Transmetrix, a Cape Town IT company, identifies all employees and records the time at which they were scanned. It also alerts employers to any absentees, allowing them to bring in additional labour if necessary.
Thirion’s farm, which harvests about 1 000 tons of grapes each year, bought the system after using a number of other methods to record the attendance of its seasonal employees. According to Thirion, the biometric fingerprint scanner is simpler for employees to use and more cost-effective and accurate than the token-based systems previously employed by the farm.
“We’ve had problems in the past monitoring who is and who isn’t at work,” said Thirion. “We need to pack and distribute our grapes as quickly as possible to ensure they are fresh when they arrive in the shops. Even having one member of staff arrive late can disrupt the whole packing line. Transmetrix’s system alerts us if people haven’t appeared, ensuring we are able to bring in replacement labour quickly.”
Jakes Redelinghuys, technical director of Transmetrix, said the system uses an algorithm that extracts certain attributes of a person’s fingerprint and then matches it to fingerprints in its database. He said the Ratanga Junction theme park and the Cape Town Cableway Company are also using the system, which costs between R5 000 and R25 000, depending on the number of staff members.
He said the system is particularly useful in stopping “time-fraud”.
“If you underpay you staff members they moan. If you overpay them they say nothing,” he said.
In January 2004 the US Department of Homeland Security launched its biometric identification system. Many travellers arriving at airports or ports in the US are now required to scan their fingerprints before proceeding through immigration controls.