Contactless Smart Cards, RFID, Payment, Transit and Security

Atos Origin tapped for French e-passport

Monday, May 19, 2008

Atos Origin and Sagem, a unit of Safran, have reportedly won a contract worth around 80 million Euros to produce electronic passports for the French government, according to Le Journal du Dimanche. The first e-passports were due to be produced at the end of June. Also competing for the contract was Thales-Accenture, Capgemini-Sopra Group and Bull-Zeltes.

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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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CBP denies report

A Canadian man uses a scanned image of his passport from his iPad to get past Customer and Border Protection officials, according to a report from the AP.

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A recent survey conducted by Wincor Nixdorf shows that a strong majority of French consumers are interested in using fingerprint scanning technology to secure transactions.

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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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As part of the U.S. Department of State’s initiative to simplify and streamline customer service interactions and processes, the Office of Passport Services has started a 90-day pilot program for online passport card applications.

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The Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA) announced that the registration of Emirati newborns is now mandatory for electronic passports (e-passport) and ID cards, according to ArabianBusiness.com.

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