IDEMIA is a multinational technology company headquartered in Courbevoie, France. It provides identity-related security services, and sells facial recognition and other biometric identification products and software to private companies and governments.
Corporate history
Morpho
Morpho Systèmes was created in 1982, then absorbed by Sagem in 1993. In 2005, when Safran was created, Sagem became Sagem Défense Sécurité and in 2007, a separate company, Sagem Sécurité was created. It was renamed Morpho in 2010 (the name was derived from Morpho Systems S.A., a 1980s fingerprint identification firm), then Safran Identity & Security in 2016.
Morpho acquired several companies through its constitution. In 2005, Sagem Défense Sécurité acquired ORGA Kartensysteme GmbH which would be renamed Sagem Orga. In 2009, Safran acquired 81% of GE Homeland Protection, a wholly owned affiliate of the General Electric Company (NYSE:GE). On July 26, 2011 Safran completed the acquisition of L-1 Identity Solutions. Today, it is mainly part of MorphoTrust USA Inc. The company itself dates back over 50 years, from the time the first photo was added to a U.S. driver's license. In December 2015 Morpho (Safran) announced its acquisition of AirTag.
In the 2020 report Out of Control Amnesty International criticized Morpho for supplying "facial recognition equipment directly to the Shanghai Public Security Bureau in 2015."
Oberthur Technologies
In 2007, the activities of Oberthur Card Systems, Oberthur Fiduciaire and Oberthur Cash Protection, companies initially originating from Imprimerie Oberthur, founded in 1842 in Rennes by François-Charles Oberthür, were merged into a single entity, Oberthur Technologies.
In September 2016, Safran announced that it had entered into exclusive negotiations with Advent International, the owner of Oberthur Technologies since 2011, to sell its identity and security activities and the transaction was finalized on 31 May 2017. Oberthur Technologies (OT) and Safran Identity & Security (Morpho) were joining forces to create OT-Morpho, then renamed as IDEMIA on September 28.
IDEMIA (since 2017) The new company is specialized in biometric identification and security, as well as secure payments with the aim of converging technologies developed for the public sector (by the former Morpho) and those for the private sector (by Oberthur Technologies).
On 15 October 2018 Yann Delabrière replaced Didier Lamouche as President & CEO.
On 1 July 2020, Pierre Barrial was appointed as President & Chief Executive Officer of the Group; Yann Delabrière returned to his role as chairman of the board with effect from July 1, 2020.
IDEMIA has developed biometric bank cards where the PIN code is replaced by the user's fingerprint. Fingerprint technology is currently being tested internally by banking institutions and would make it possible to secure contactless payment from the first euro. Fingerprint verification is done directly on the card and no fingerprint-related elements are transmitted to the merchant nor the bank.
In response to the growing demand from companies to use contactless access control devices to guarantee both a secure and hygienic method of identity verification, IDEMIA offers biometric terminals that use facial recognition or enable fingerprint recognition.
Areas of expertise
Identification
This represents the company's historical core business. It develops the latest technologies in the field of biometrics.
The facial recognition technologies proposed by IDEMIA allow for smooth passage through the airport or stadium entrances and are also used to spot people banned from the stadium, identify fugitives in crowds or check the identity of people entering reserved areas. The company has many references in the police field or in the civil field: United States, United Arab Emirates, Albania, or India with the Aadhaar project whose objective is to provide a unique 12-digit number to each Indian citizen after enrolment of their biometric data (iris, fingerprints, portrait for 1.3 billion people) allowing these citizens to open a bank account, access microcredit or receive social benefits.
IDEMIA produced 3 billion identity documents (passports, identity cards, driving licences, etc.) worldwide in 2020.
On the market of states and government services, IDEMIA participates in particular in the efforts of the United Nations Organisation to give everyone an identity by 2030 (in Africa or India, more than 1.1 billion people still do not have a legal existence).