PRESS RELEASE


April 2008

Digimarc Corporation announced that New Mexico's Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) has begun issuing licenses using a new, highly secure system from Digimarc, following a line of issuance systems upgrades in a number of states, including Indiana and Oregon.

Digimarc replaced the State's existing self issuing system with a state-of-the-art, secure driver license issuance system, designed to ensure that only one valid license is issued to one legitimate applicant, helping fight driver license fraud and identity theft. The Digimarc solution includes centralized driver license production from a secure facility and multiple applicant screening steps to confirm identity.

"It is an exciting day for New Mexico as we introduce a state-of-the-art system for issuing secure driver licenses and State IDs," said Ken Ortiz, director, Motor Vehicle Division. "We expect the new secure production process and increased fraud detection to greatly enhance transportation safety and protection of the identities of our citizens."

"We are delighted to have earned the privilege of serving the driver license needs of New Mexico, joining many other U.S. jurisdiction who rely upon Digimarc for their driver license issuance systems," said Bob Eckel, president, ID systems, Digimarc. "Digimarc is pleased to be working closely with New Mexico to introduce a new world-class driver license solution that will serve the State's citizens with innovative applicant verification solutions and secure central production of a market leading secure credential design."

New Mexico's market leading system includes the following Digimarc solutions:

Secure, centralized driver license production — The New Mexico driver license is being produced in one of Digimarc’s highly secure factories. New Mexico drivers who apply for a new or renewal license now receive an interim driver license when they leave the office, and their final driver license in the mail, only after the applicant's identity has been positively validated.

Biometric Identification — MVD staff use facial recognition technology to compare a driver license applicant’s photo against all other photos of registered drivers in the MVD database to determine whether the applicant is attempting to obtain a duplicate license under a false identity.

Advanced driver license document design with market-leading security features — the newly designed New Mexico driver license incorporates a number of new layers of security, including Digimarc IDMarc digital watermarks for machine-readable, cross-jurisdictional driver license authentication.


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