News

Kiosks help catch gatecrashers at Oscars

March 26, 2003

LOS ANGELES -- Kiosks equipped with RFID (radio frequency identification ) technology were used to beef up security at the 75th Academy Awards on March 23 because of concerns over terrorist threats related to the war in Iraq.

An access control system based on RFID technology from Texas Instruments (TI) was used to help keep gatecrashers out of the event, according to an RFID Journal report.

The award ceremony has been a frequent target of gatecrashers who wanted to get inside and mingle with the stars. Three years ago, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hired a company called Security Solutions to do the systems integration for security.

Security Solutions uses TI's technology to verify the identity of attendees at entrances to the buildings and at interior checkpoints and restricted-access areas throughout the Kodak Theater, where the awards are held.

Each attendee registers in advance. A photo is taken and stored in a database. The photo and information about each person is linked to a serial number stored on a "smart label" badge provided by TI. Kiosks containing a computer monitor, RFID reader from Secura Key of Chatsworth, Calif., and computer server are placed at strategic locations.

When guests come within reading distance of the kiosk, the system calls up their image and information on the monitor. The security guard then visually confirms that the person wearing the badge was the person who was supposed to be wearing it.

In areas where the PCs could not be connected to a local-area network (LAN), Security Solutions used wireless technology to retrieve data, according to the RFID Journal.

The smart labels embedded in the badges are based on the ISO 15693 vicinity card standard. They are "virtually impossible to counterfeit," said Tim DeWeese, president of Security Solutions.

The microchip in the smart label can store more than 256 bytes of data, or about 30 times more information than traditional 125 KHz proximity cards. That gives the Academy flexibility in designing security solutions, according to DeWeese.

For example, one option considered was storing a digital photo on the badge so that security personnel could go up to a suspicious-looking character anywhere in the theater, read the image off the card and see if the image displayed on his or her PDA matched the person wearing the badge.

The Academy didn't choose to implement the digital photo system this year because of the additional cost involved, according to the RFID Journal.