MVC vendor also fingerprints tens of thousands of N.J. school workers; contract being monitored

The company at the center of a widening controversy over New Jersey’s voter rolls also collects fingerprints used to vet tens of thousands of people who work in the state’s schools, prompting state education officials to increase scrutiny of a vendor Gov. Mikie Sherrill has blamed for a “massive software error” at the Motor Vehicle Commission.

The New Jersey Department of Education told the New Jersey Globe that it is monitoring IDEMIA’s performance more closely following revelations that a software failure caused about 6,600 noncitizens to be improperly added to the voter rolls.  Fewer than 400 of them cast ballots.

IdentoGO by IDEMIA collects and transmits fingerprints for criminal background checks administered by the department’s Office of Student Protection. Its work covers teachers, other school employees, vendors and school bus drivers.

Education officials said they have found no evidence of problems with IDEMIA’s fingerprinting work and remain confident that safeguards protecting the background-check system are functioning properly.

Michael Yaple, a spokesman for the Department of Education, said the department remains confident that its safeguards are working.

“We take this process very seriously,” he said.  “We are confident in the background check process that exists to support employment eligibility determinations.”

But Yaple said the department would continue scrutinizing the contractor’s performance in light of the MVC failure.

“To be clear, while we maintain confidence in our protocols to collect and transmit applicants’ fingerprints to law enforcement, we continue to actively monitor performance so we can address any potential issues that could arise,” he said.

The Sherrill administration has not indicated that it plans to suspend or terminate IDEMIA’s education contract while the MVC investigation is underway.

“We have an ongoing independent investigation into the software error with MVC, and we will review those findings to determine any additional steps that may be necessary,” said Sherrill spokesman Sean Higgins.

Higgins noted that IDEMIA’s fingerprinting and identity-verification work extends well beyond New Jersey government.

“In addition to working with the state, IDEMIA works at the federal level with TSA PreCheck, the FBI, and the Department of Defense, among others,” he said.

Sherrill said last week that the state was in the process of terminating the motor vehicles contract for IDEMIA, the French identity-technology firm.  IDEMIA says it worked with the agency for more than 40 years.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly) has called on federal officials to audit all contracts with IDEMIA, saying that the New Jersey voter registration controversy “raises serious concerns about the reliability of IDEMIA’s software, the company’s quality control practices, and the federal government’s reliance on a single contractor to manage highly sensitive identity and biometric systems.”

The glitch occurred even though the affected customers had indicated during MVC transactions that they were not U.S. citizens. Sherrill has ordered an independent investigation into the failure.  IDEMIA has denied the governor’s allegation and says the fault lies with the state, not them.

New Jersey has required fingerprint-based background checks since 1986.  It conducts criminal history background checks on applicants for jobs in public schools, private schools for students with disabilities, charter schools, and nonpublic schools, as well as authorized vendors and school bus contractors.  The background checks are conducted by the New Jersey State Police, which works with the FBI.

Teachers and other employees with regular student contact must clear state and federal criminal history reviews before being hired.  The requirement extends to support staff, certain vendors, charter school employees and school bus personnel.  Separate provisions govern bus drivers and require employment-history reviews for applicants whose jobs involve regular student contact. Certain serious crimes, including sex offenses, crimes against children and some violent or drug offenses, permanently disqualify applicants.

Yaple said IdentoGO by IDEMIA’s contract with the Department of Education is “limited to collecting fingerprints and transmitting them to the New Jersey State Police, which then coordinates with the FBI to conduct the actual criminal history background check.”

A spokesperson for IDEMIA did not immediately respond to a text message seeking comment.

Under the Department of Education’s process, IdentoGO does not decide whether an applicant is eligible to work in a school. The company collects the fingerprints and transmits them to law enforcement; the State Police and FBI conduct the criminal history search, and the Office of Student Protection determines whether the applicant is eligible for school employment.  The Office of Student Protection makes the final employment-eligibility determination.

That division of responsibility is the primary safeguard education officials cited in distinguishing IDEMIA’s fingerprinting work from the software failure at the MVC.