INNOVATIVE agritech provider AgPick Technology has launched a facial recognition app to protect growers from ID fraud.
The new AgPick ID app uses advanced biometric technology to verify worker images and immediately identify them, so they can match to registration details in the AgPick data store, including name, visa status and payment methods.
AgPick Technology CEO Henrietta Child said “AgPick ID provided an extra layer of security which would primarily protect growers, suppliers, and pickers from the implications of ID fraud”.
“Growers want to know who is on their farm. This technology uses commercially available AI functionality to ensure people on a farm are who they say they are and if they have a legal right to be there,” she said.
“The technology is an extra layer of security to protect growers from Fair Work breaches, support their insurance coverage, and protect them from ID fraud. It also saves admin time and ensures accurate payment.
“At induction, pickers are registered and three images of their face are loaded into the AgPick system using AgPick ID. From then on, sign in is with a face option, simply take a photo and press start.
The image is compared with the unique meta data attributes of their face and matched to their personal details which are already in the system. If the ID doesn’t match, the worker either shouldn’t be there or hasn’t been registered.”
The technology enables supervisors to use any Android device to capture the images – a process that is proving to be quick and easy while reducing a reliance on crew ID cards.
“The process will obviate the need for workers to carry crew ID cards which can be misplaced, lost, or used by someone else,” Ms Child said.
She added that independent workers on hourly rate jobs could easily move between jobs around the farm, using the face scanner at each point.
“AgPick ID is a mobile application that had been designed for use in any environment. It also saved workers time from reporting to the office to sign on and off, was mobile, highly flexible, and easy to use,” Ms Child said.
AgPick ID, launched at a Central Queensland farming operation, was already achieving a high success rate by saving time and ensuring workers were who they said they were.
“We had some uncertainty as to whether this new check would slow the operation down. But we couldn’t have been more wrong,” Ms Child said.
“Before we knew it, they had ditched the cards for all time bookings because it was quicker.”
The AgPick ID app is integrated with the AgPick system, so that all data captured about a worker’s activities and their performance is reported in AgPick Reporting Portal.
“At a granular level the system records activities and time spent on a block and allows companies and supervisors to make better, more informed decisions,” Ms Child said.