Biometric passport

A Biometric passport is an Information Age identity document that uses biometrics to authenticate the citizenship of travelers. The passport’s critical information is stored on a tiny computer chip, much like information stored on smartcards. Like some smartcards, the passport book design calls for an embedded contactless chip that is able to hold digital signature data to ensure the integrity of the passport and the biometric data.

The current staged biometrics for this type of identification system is fingerprint recognition, digital imaging, and retinal scans. For example, this would allow a computer to verify your identity by measuring the distance between your eyes. To store biometric data on the contactless chip, it is outfitted with a minimum of 32 Kbytes of EEPROM storage memory, and runs on an interface in accordance with the ISO 14443 international standard. This particular standard ensures compatibility among all systems developed for every version of identification books.

Types of Biometric passports

European biometric passports

The European version of the passport is planned to have digital imaging, fingerprint, and retinal scan biometrics placed on the contactless chip. This combination of the biometrics creates an unrivaled level of security and protection against counterfeit and fraudulent identification papers.

American biometric passports

The American version of the passport will only have digital imaging placed onto the contactless chip. For the post 9/11 area, this still provides a valuable increased level of security, but not as complex as the European version. The reasoning behind the decision to omit additional biometrics was to keep the price of security, which is passed on to the American citizen, as low as possible. The base price for the passport will have about a $35.00 increase over the traditional paper identification passport.

History

A high level of security became the top priority in 2001. This tightened security required border control to take bold steps in cracking down on counterfeit paper passports. This concern led to the idea of biometric security. In October 2004, the production stages of this high-tech passport commenced as the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) issued awards to the top bidders of the program. The awards totaled to roughly $1,000,000 for startup, development, and testing. The driving force of the initiative is the US Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 that stated such smartcard ID’s will be able replace visas. Countries participating in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program are now required to start production of machine-readable passports that comply with international standards and support biometric identification. The citizens of these 27 countries will be able to offer their country’s biometric passport to retain their activity with visa-free traveling to the US. The goal of participating countries finally comes together; now tightened security exists aiding in the re-establishment of traveling ease.

Opposition

Privacy Activists in many countries question and protest the lack of information about exactly what the passports’ chip will contain, but government officials will unlikely pay heed to their concerns. The problem they address is that data on the passports can be transferred with touchless technology (like wireless technology) which becomes a major vulnerability. Although this would allow ID-check computers to obtain your information without a physical connection, it would also allow anyone with the necessary equipment to perform the same task. When personal information and passport numbers aren’t encrypted, it can create a very dangerous situation. Privacy concerns should be directed towards the State Department and the ICAO.