Government ID, Smart Cards, Identification and Authentication

Bucharest issuing biometric e-passports

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The first biometric electronic passport are starting to be issued in Bucharest, Romania, according to a report in Financiarul.com.

The first travel document will be issued on Jan. 18. The new e-passport will store on a contactless smart card chip a digital photo and two fingerprint scans along with the holder’s demographic data. Other areas in Romania started issuing the new e-passports last year.

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After a nearly three-year delay, the Algerian government has finally launched its biometric passport program.

Magharebia reports that the biometric passports, which contain a contactless smart card chip that holds a digitized photo, fingerprints and signature, were supposed to be released in 2009. But the documents were delayed due to complexities with the operation of the project and the need to thoroughly research and analyze other countries’ experiences with biometric passports.

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Passport Canada CEO Christine Desloges has announced that Canada will start issuing e-passports by the end of next year, according to Citytv.com.

Speaking at a conference at the Montreal HQ of the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization, Desloges declared, “Canada is on track for the full-scale delivery of its e-passport. Next year we will roll out the full issuance.”

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IMS Research has launched a new report predicting that within five years 90% of passport holders will be using e-passports with integrated smart card IC chips.

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Kosovo has begun issuing new biometric passports powered by chip technology from Switzerland’s Trüb AG.

The Balkan nation of 1.7 million has contracted the Austrian State Printing House (OeSD) to manufacture the new passport booklets and integrate Trüb’s the polycarbonate film datapages, which contain an ICAO-compliant antenna and chip module that stores the document holder’s personal data, a facial image and two fingerprints.

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In an effort to streamline passenger security, Jakarta, Indonesia’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport has opened the country’s first biometric immigration gate.

Fingerprint biometric identification provider BIO-key International, Inc. and Oakwell Engineering Limited partnered to create the new gate, designed for use by passengers with electronic passports. Passengers submit their e-passports and authenticate with a fingerprint.

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The UK Border Agency has announced intentions to require applicants applying for six-month stays from outside the European Economic Area to use biometric residency permits starting at the end of February 2012, according to an HR Magazine article.

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