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US names the day for biometric passports
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 08:35:29 -0400
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 11:57:45 -0400 From: "R. A. Hettinga" <rah () shipwright com> <http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/31885.html> 22 July 2003 Updated: 14:44 GMT The Register US names the day for biometric passports By John Leyden Posted: 22/07/2003 at 14:41 GMT A senior US government official has laid out detailed plans for the timing and form of US government issued biometric passports. Frank Moss, deputy assistant secretary for Passport Services, presented his organisation's plans to evolve to a new, more secure "intelligent document" from today's paper-based passports at the Smart Card Alliance 's Government Conference and Expo conference last week. "Our goal is to begin production by October 26, 2004," Moss announced. Current plans call for the new passport books to include a contactless smart chip based on the 14443 standard, with a minimum of 32 Kbytes of EEPROM storage. The chip will contain a compressed full-face image for use as a biometric. European biometric passports , by contrast, are planned to feature both retinal and fingerprint recognition biometrics on their smart cards. For US passports, the image and the passport information stored on the contactless chip will be digitally signed to ensure the integrity of both the data and the passport itself. With this approach "you can read a chip and confirm its validity, but you cannot create one. That is the beauty of public key technology," said Moss. The United States produces about seven million passports per year. For the US Passport Services' program to move forward successfully other countries must also agree to common specifications, so US officials are working closely with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to drive the process forward. There's little doubt this is a US government initiative, fueled by post-9/11 terrorism fears, which is rapidly gaining momentum. Under the US Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002, countries whose citizens enjoy visa-free travel to the United States must issue passports with biometric identifiers no later than October 26, 2004. Quite how effective biometric passports will be in frustrating terrorist activity is a completely different matter... ® -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah () ibuc com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to majordomo () metzdowd com
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- US names the day for biometric passports Dave Farber (Aug 22)