Abstract: An identification instrument such as a pocket-sized card includes both human-recognizable and machine-readable indicia. The human-recognizable material may be any combination of photographs, graphical or textual information, with the machine-readable section encoding any or all of the human-recognizable areas in their entirety. When the card is presented for verification, the machine-readable section is scanned, decompressed and/or deciphered and compared to the database used to generate the human-recognizable section or sections. Only with a substantial matching of the information may the card and its user be authenticated. Preferably, a Symbol Technologies compliant two-dimensional barcode is used as the machine-readable encoding format. Multiple levels of encryption and decryption are also described in conjunction with enhanced security.

Abstract: An identification instrument such as a pocket-sized card includes both human-recognizable and machine-readable indicia. The human-recognizable material may be any combination of photographs, graphical or textual information, with the machine-readable section encoding any or all of the human-recognizable areas in their entirety. When the card is presented for verification, the machine-readable section is scanned, decompressed and/or deciphered and compared to the database used to generate the human-recognizable section or sections. Only with a substantial matching of the information may the card and its user be authenticated. Preferably, a Symbol Technologies compliant two-dimensional barcode is used as the machine-readable encoding format. Multiple levels of encryption and decryption are also described in conjunction with enhanced security.

Abstract: An identification instrument such as a pocket-sized card includes both human-recognizable an machine-readable indicia. The human-recognizable material may be any combination of photographs, graphical or textual information, with the machine-readable section encoding any or all of the human-recognizable areas in their entirety. When the card is presented for verification, the machine-readable section is scanned, decompressed and/or deciphered and compared to the database used to generate the human-recognizable section or sections. Only with a substantial matching of the information may the card and its user be authenticated. Preferably, a Symbol Technologies compliant two-dimensional barcode is used as the machine-readable encoding format. Multiple levels of encryption and decryption are also described in conjunction with enhanced security.