--- begin forwarded text Delivered-To: ignition-point@majordomo.pobox.com X-Sender: believer@telepath.com Date: Sun, 18 Oct 1998 10:01:41 -0500 To: believer@telepath.com From: believer@telepath.com Subject: IP: Tracking: Plastic Passports w/Biometric Confirmation of ID Mime-Version: 1.0 Sender: owner-ignition-point@majordomo.pobox.com Precedence: list Reply-To: believer@telepath.com Source: London Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/et?ac=000150689433551&rtmo=0GNxrbeq&atmo=99999 999&P4_FOLLOW_ON=/98/10/18/npass18.html&pg=/et/98/10/18/npass18.html Credit card plastic passport to be issued within two years By David Bamber, Home Affairs Correspondent A NEW credit card size passport which can be inserted in a computer scanner on arrival in another country will be issued to British travellers within two years. Trials are expected to begin soon of the system which allows passengers to bypass traditional immigration officials. When entering a country travellers would insert their plastic passport in a card reader and hold their hands to a screen to check palm prints. Both would be linked to a database containing travellers' details. The process would take 15 seconds and make lengthy airport queues a thing of the past. A prototype card with a digital photograph of the holder has already been developed. Passport Agency officials have been in discussions with the computer giant IBM about their Fastgate card system which has already been installed in Bermuda, a British colony. A passport agency official said: "It looks like a credit card and it can be swiped through Customs and allow people to enter a country without having their traditional passport examined by an official." He said that the new prototype had a digital hologram photograph of the holder and other special security devices which made forging them difficult. Last night a Home Office official confirmed that the credit card-style passport is being developed. He said: "We have become involved in the early stages of exploring the IBM Fastgate system." The official said that no date has yet been set to issue the cards to the public or to start trials at an airport in the Britain. But Home Office sources have revealed that a trial of the system is likely to be carried out by installing it at a Government building so that tests can be carried out to see if the security system can be breached. John Tincey, technology officer of the Immigration Service Union which represents 2,000 staff who check passports in Britain, said his members had been aware for some time of discussions about a computerised credit card style system. He has compiled a report for his union which was submitted to the Home Office. In it, he concluded: "The new technology will save on running costs, reduce staff numbers and increase profits. Even the Home Office will be unable to resist the financial advantages of the new technology." He added that because so many other countries will introduce credit card style systems, Britain would either lose business because of retaining lengthy checks on travellers, or alternatively loosen controls by selectively abandoning checks to minimise delays. Last night he also warned of possible job losses and the danger that the cards could be open to counterfeiting or abuse. At Bermuda International Airport, the Fastgate cards were introduced in May. Travellers use a touch screen to answer a few simple questions. The computer checks the data against information held on computers and also makes sure there are no arrest warrants out or requests to intercept the traveller. Usually the process takes just 15 seconds. Ken Thornton, of IBM, said: "Governments improve security and service. Airports improve competitiveness. And airlines and card issuers improve customers service." There is even the prospect of electronic visas being issued in the future, either as separate credit card style documents or logged on a computer. Even when the credit card style passports are introduced, the traditional paper passports will still be issued for some time because many countries will take years to install the necessary technology. © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 1998. ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- **************************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address or (un)subscribe ignition-point-digest email@address **************************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **************************************************** --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.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'