DHS biometric overhaul still tied to Thales as HART deadline passes

Eight days after its September 30 deadline, DHS still describes IDENT as its current biometric repository and HART as under development. An October 8 RFI and sole-source justification commit another $11.2 million to Thales, with only one of 14 surveyed companies deemed capable of maintaining the proprietary fingerprint-matching technology.

• DHS awarded Thales $11.2 million to support IDENT and HART through September 2027
• Only Thales of 14 surveyed companies was deemed capable of meeting DHS requirements
• DHS lacks the rights and source code to let competitors maintain the technology
• HART's original target was December 2018, later pushed to September 2026