The government printing office (GPO) plans to incorporate the electronic capability in all new passports to be issued in 2007.
Gemalto says its e-passport technology includes the company’s operating system software running in a large capacity contactless microprocessor chip. The chip is embedded in a module that is highly resistant to damage and then is integrated into the passport booklet cover. The passports have an expected 10-year life span.
Gemalto’s e-passport references include the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia and Sweden.
In an effort to better protect travellers, streamline immigration processes and improve the security of the passport booklet, the US Department of State and the GPO, which assembles all US passports, are issuing an electronic passport booklet in accordance with the standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations agency.
Last year, ICAO adopted the chip technology used in contactless smart cards as the standard for electronic passports in order to add a facial biometric and other security features to passport books.
The computer chip in the passport will contain all the information that is now printed on the document’s data page including a digitized photograph of the passport owner. The text data and the photograph can be read with a contactless reader at a border entry point and the electronically provided data can be compared to the information printed in the passport at issuance.
More than 30 nations worldwide have already pledged to adopt passport technology that conforms to an international standard for electronic identification data.
