Contactless Smart Cards, RFID, Payment, Transit and Security

The next generation electronic passport

Wednesday, January 14, 2009 in Library

Inspection systems and extended access control are next hurdles

More than 100 million electronic passports have been issued in the two plus years since governments initiated production of the new travel credentials. The U.S. State Department alone has issued almost 15 million of the contactless documents.

But while there are many e-passports in circulation the inspection systems used to read them have not been widely deployed at border crossings. Putting these systems in place, while not adversely impacting wait times, will be the next challenge for countries.

European Union countries have that and another obstacle to hurdle as well: extended access control (EAC). Since EU countries are storing fingerprint images on e-passports they are using the more advanced security of EAC, a public key infrastructure scheme that secures the biometric data. EU countries are supposed to start issuing passports with EAC by next June.

There are 1362 words in the rest of this article …

Library Access Required

Library subscribers have access to the full archives of more than 10,000 original news items and feature articles published by AVISIAN’s suite of ID technology publications (ContactlessNews.com, CR80News.com, DigitalIDNews.com, FIPS201.com, NFCNews.com, RFIDNews.org, SecureIDNews.com, and ThirdFactor.com).

For just $99, you receive unlimited password-protected access to content on all of AVISIAN’s sites for an entire year. Your subscription helps fund the continued creation of independent, insightful content. Find out more.

Sign in as a Subscriber

If you are already a subscriber, you may sign in now. Enter your Email Address and Password and click Sign In.

Email Address →
Password →
Action →

If you have forgotten your password, enter just your Email Address, and click Send Password.

Email Address →
Action →

Listen to the latest re:ID Podcast


The weekly podcast covers relevant issues and breaking news from AVISIAN's suite of ID technology publications.

Listen now.

Subscribe to the Contactless News Library
Gain access to the largest collection of Auto-ID analysis on the Internet.
Place your ad here for just $200

Text ads on ContactlessNews bring 90,000+ impressions each month.

Click to learn more