FAQS

Selinko is the first all- in- one solutions provider for brands that want to connect their products to the Internet of Things. We mark each product with an NFC tag that holds a unique digital identifier, which can be read using an NFC smartphone. This identity enables us to provide high value-added services to brands such as product authentication (up to bank-level security), gray market detection, consumer engagement and a patented, certified e-commerce solution to eradicate the sale of fake products online. Our solution is adapted to different sectors such as wines and spirits, leather goods, perfumes and cosmetics, footwear and apparel, etc. For more information, visit.

• Link company video: http://vimeo.com/68283232
• Link mobile app wine:  http://vimeo.com/68844177
• Link mobile app Luxury: http://vimeo.com/69068527 

SELINKO: Belgian-based company with headquarters near Brussels and an office in Taipei

LAUNCH DATE: Sept 2012

FOUNDERS:

Patrick Eischen • CEO

Didier Delhez • CTO

Gwen Festraets • VP Marketing & Communications

EMPLOYEES: 14

The idea came to Patrick in December 2011. Patrick was a shareholder in Fuori Mondo, a small, high-end vineyard in Tuscany which started distributing to China. He and his fellow shareholders realized that the risk of their products being copied was high. Patrick started looking for a technological solution that was simple, secure, easy to implement and involved the end-consumer, but could not find anything suitable on the market. In his research, he discovered that INSIDE Secure, a French chip maker, had just started to market the Vault-Ic, a secured chip designed to protect against the counterfeiting of goods (the only chip in the world to be Common Criteria certified – military security grade –  for object identification). This technology gave Patrick the idea of creating a platform that could deliver not only an anti-counterfeiting service and end-to-end traceability, but also derived value-added services, all combined in one turnkey solution – based on the fact that items could be identified. Brands could simply plug into the platform We are a public limited company. Selinko’s clients include Le Pin, probably the most prestigious Pomerol wine, and we also have a first reference in the Napa Valley with Buccella and the high-end Cognac brand Zelia. Other clients include prestigious names in the luxury and leather goods industry.

Near Field Communication is a standard technology that enables data to be exchanged between two chips, in this case, one contained in the mobile phone and the other in the connected product.

• Standard (ISO) and secure technology initially developed for m-payment (e.g. Google Wallet)
• Strong penetration in Asia and North America
• Very easy to use. No battery needed
• Multiple chip formats available

NFC and RFID

RFID is a generic term to describe a technology for transmitting an identity (ID: often a serial number) via RF ( Radio Frequency). An RFID device involves three main components:
The main differences are :

NFC is a sub-category of RFID

RFID can function within a perimeter of several meters, whilst NFC only works at very close range (making inadvertent use virtually impossible)

NFC is designed rather for systems requiring a certain level of security (financial transactions, identification, etc)

RFID requires an RFID reader (often expensive), whilst NFC needs only an NFC-enabled smartphone/tablet/PC in order to read the data.

NFC is present on more and more smartphones, whereas RFID isn’t!

NFC AND BLE

On the basis of your location (mainly shopping centers), this sends you personal notifications about products situated nearby thanks to beacons. To complement NFC, which works at very close range permitting a closer relationship with the product (its composition, its authenticity, etc.) as well as payment, the role of iBEACON would be rather to attract consumers into shops and increase their basket value.
The bottom line is :

BLE, like a lighthouse, is used to call a mobile app’s attention to its current surroundings so that it may initiate a predefined action appropriate to the given location.

NFC, like a telephone, is used to facilitate a one-to-one, data-oriented communication session between a person and a thing or between two NFC-equipped individuals.

NFC AND BLUETOOTH 

Unlike Bluetooth, NFC enables a connection to be established with a compatible device extremely rapidly. Indeed, the startup, scanning, pairing and authorization procedures take a significant amount of time in Bluetooth. This slow speed may be considered as a sticking point for its wide-scale use among the general public.
NFC is by definition a technology based on proximity, since actions are only possible when the terminal is placed within a few centimeters of the target. This technical constraint involves a voluntary process by the user, making inadvertent activation virtually impossible. It’s worth noting thatBluetoothconnections can operate at a range of between 1 and 10 meters.

NFC is compatible with RFID chips.

NFC consumes less energy (due to shorter range). Affects your cellphone’s battery far less.

NFC has a far more simple and intuitive approach. Bringing the 2 devices together is enough to establish the connection, whereas with Bluetooth you need to “activate” the function, wait for the acknowledgment from the other device, etc.

NFC enables the card to be read passively (e.g. by a tag containing an NFC chip), without an energy resource. You can’t do this with Bluetooth.

It’s based on a standard technology tried and tested by the banking industry for more than 20 years (PKI), using dynamic encryption to allow secure data communications exchange. 

General:

1. The value of counterfeit goods globally exceeds $1.7 trillion
2. In the wine industry, experts estimate that 20% of wine sold worldwide is fake
3. 25% of imported European spirits in China is fake
4. Counterfeiting is to be found wherever there is brand growth. 70% of all counterfeits seized globally come from China.

Most counterfeit products (sold in USA – Daily Finance)

1. Footwear (Percent of Total Seizures: 38%)
2. Consumer Electronics (12%)
3. Handbags/Wallets/Backpacks (8%)
4. Apparel
   (8%)
5. Watches (6%)
6. Computers/Hardware (5%)
7. Media (CDs and DVDs) (4%)
8.  Pharmaceuticals (4%)
9. Jewellery (4%)
10. Toys/Electronic Games (2%)

In its range, Selinko proposes NFC tags containing a secure chip with integral unique digital certificate (encrypted object ID card), made non-copiable by asymmetric encryption. This standard and highly secure technology (PKI) has been tried and tested for over 20 years in the banking industry. Each certificate is unique and cannot be reproduced, even by us. Our chips are Common Criteria-certified, a set of standards (ISO 15408 ) that are recognized internationally (by ANSSI in France or by the American Chamber).Common Criteria standards are required for passports, ID cards, driver’s licenses, bank cards, etc. The chips are ISO and EAL4+ certified . The chips are protected by 250 security measures, shielding them from all manner of attack (laser, temperature variation, voltage, magnetic fields, etc). In this case the chip becomes blocked and dies.

PKI stands for Public Key Infrastructure, which enables certificates to be generated (= identity card for the item). These certificates contain algorithm keys (private key for decrypting/public key for encrypting) enabling encrypted operations to be carried out. Our tag contains the public key, the private key and the certificate.

A digital certificate is an electronic document which links a public key to an entity (a person, object, bank, online sales site, etc.).  A certification authority (CA) guarantees this link between the entity and the public key by appending its digital signature using its private key.

3 options :

• By the Selinko PKI
• By the PKI of an independent authority
• By the client’s PKI (subject to approval by our team of experts through verification of the quality of governance of the PKI at the client’s premises)

PS: The electronic certificates belong to the brands. If they wish to work with a supplier other than us, they can easily change. Our solution is not proprietary and we do not wish brands to feel trapped with us.

No, because they would not be able to read the certificate as the public key is encrypted.

It depends on the volumes & type of tags. We have developed a fair pricing package, adapted to the market and in line with the guaranteed level of security. Please contact us for more information about the cost of the solution.

• We are the first”all-in-one” solutions provider offering product authentication, gray market detection, consumer engagement and secure online sales services.
• We offer different levels of security, up to the most rigorous international standards such as are used for the banking transactions and electronic passports.
• We are the first high-security NFC technology allowing opening detection.

At present you can use any Android smartphone equipped with NFC. See here full list of compatible phones: http://www.nfcworld.com/nfc-phones-list

And iPhone : model 7 and above running IOS11

After downloading the Selinko mobile application on the Google Play Store, place your smartphone against the. product. The tapping place may vary from one brand to another

Once the product has been scanned, you can access its authentication in a few seconds, as well as other interactive services. You need to be connected to the internet via WiFi or mobile internet connection (3G or higher)

No, because the chip is recharged by magnetic induction when it comes into contact with the telephone during scanning. The chip could last for at least 20 years without the information stored on it being altered.

The chip will become altered and will self-destruct when it comes into contact with water or any variation in its environment. The chip can neither be copied.

After downloading the mobile application, place your smartphone against the product. The tapping place may vary from one brand. Once the product has been scanned, you can access its authentication in a few seconds, as well as other interactive services. You need to be connected to the internet via WiFi or mobile internet connection (3G or higher).

Apple introduced Apple Pay for NFC-enabled mobile payment on iPhone6 and iPhone6+ in September 2014. For now, the Near Field Communication (NFC) chip found in the new iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and Apple Watch will be used exclusively for Apple Pay. 

You can read NFC tags with l’iPhone model 7 and above and running iOS 11

• Fake labels : perfect copies and rough copies
• Fake bottles
• Re-filling : real bottles filled in with fake juice
• Gray markets : bottles distributed outside their normal distribution channel

InTact is a high quality connected capsule dedicated to the wines and spirits market and gives a real protection thanks to the NFC technology integrated in a highly secured chip. The InTact© solution combines Selinko’s ORM software platform, Inside Secure’s Vault IC 154 NFC Chip and patent pending capSeal opening detection technology, and Amcor smart capsules. The dedicated app can not only authenticate the product but also track it and create a dialogue with the client. It also allows you to get datas for each chip is containing a unique ID.

The guarantee to purchase a genuine product, never been opened, and to access a world of privileges offered by brands by simply tapping their product.