TAA compliance indicates that a specific product follows the requirements outlined in the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, basically stating that the product is made in either the United States or a designated country. Smart Cards have been in use by the federal government in accordance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) since 2006, and now the technology is rapidly spreading to banking, healthcare and other areas requiring identity verification and secured access.

The federal government issues Common Access Cards programmed with a Personal Identification Verification (PIV) chip containing the data necessary for the cardholder to be properly identified and granted access to secure federal facilities and information systems. Having reached tremendous adoption rates outside of the U.S., Smart Cards are now rapidly growing in this country to combat credit card fraud, while also providing the next generation of secure and user friendly identification.

In addition to the embedded chip, Smart Cards are usually programmed with a PIN to ensure security for both the card holder and the system being accessed. Often referred to as a Smart Card, the Common Access Card (or CAC) is the shape of a credit card, and is embedded with a data chip allowing specialized access. What is a Smart Card or Common Access Card? IOGEAR’s physical contact readers are less prone to misalignment, which helps to eliminate the possibility of being misread. IOGEAR's USB Common Access Card Readers require the card to be inserted directly into the reader where electrical contacts retrieve the data stored in the card’s chipset. a computer, point-of-sale terminal, network system, etc.) in secure systems such as those used by government, banking and health care. Common Access Card (CAC) or Smart Card readers are used as a communications medium between the Smart Card and a host (e.g. The IOGEAR GSR202 is a TAA compliant USB Common Access Card Reader for military, government and even private sector workers who need everyday access to secure systems.

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