The TrustFaces project derives from the TrustStamp project, completed in June 2018, in partnership with the INCM - Portuguese Mint and Official Printing Office. This project aims at a partnership for research and development in the area of reliable labels for the certification of products and identification (ID) documents, namely in the authenticity certification area, more specifically in the creation of stamps and encoded images of faces of people, with applications in personal ID documents. In the current state of the TrustStamp project, the methods for creating images of trust stamps that can encode hidden information through the association of a dictionary with dithering patterns have been developed, resulting in the creation of UniQode® codes. The method is very flexible and allows additional layers of coding, encryption, error correction and redundancy to be added on a simple hierarchical structure in order to design the security of messages according to the application for which it is intended. It is therefore possible to create stamps with different levels of security, suitable for products and solutions with specific needs. In addition, this technology allows to associate several media and types of prints, namely, associating a standard printing on paper with a standard printing in hologram, increasing safety drastically, by the added difficulty that is to produce a system to breaking these stamps or, through printing with inks enriched with metal particles (glitter) for the generation of unique and irreproducible random patterns (resistant to counterfeiting and fraud).

Research Coordinator: Nuno Gonçalves