ContactlessNews | BioP@ss project speeds up passport control

Monday, October 17, 2011

The BioP@ss project, a program funded through the EUREKA micro-electronics cluster MEDEA+, has been working on a way to speed up passport control at European airports. As reported on PhysOrg.com, digital security specialists, European electronics makers and biometrics experts have been working together on this new technology to meet the air travel security standards for 2014.

The project worked on contactless card scanning and high speed data interfacing to boost security, speed up passport control lines, reduce government administration costs and ease access to public European electronic services. Companies involved with the project had to find a solution that didn’t necessitate vast overhauls in current airport infrastructure.

Gemalto partnered with 11 companies in five countries to develop e-passport and e-ID cards that incorporate a microprocessor chip that stores private information and personal biometrics. Extended EU security requirements mandated encryption and the need to have physical access to the card in order to read the chip.

Beyond airport security, other applications were developed for health care, voting and other government services. The project also contributed to a new ISO standard for contactless data transfer that’s under consideration, as well as the CEN IAS standard for the European Citizen Card.

Access IS is gearing up for Security Document World (SDW) 2012 where it will be showcasing its latest range of security document readers.

There the company will introduce its new passport reader - the OCR601 - which is able to quickly and accurately verify the machine readable zone (MRZ) and enables the data in an e-passport’s chip to be read, all in a single action.

U.S. GPO achieves milestone in the production of the e-passports

The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has produced 75 million electronic passports at its secure production facilities in Washington, D.C. and Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

Dubai airport's biometrics system catches fraudsters

New passport-reading and biometrics technology installed at Dubai International Airport is catching increasing numbers of people who attempt to enter the country with fake identity documents, reports the Gulf News.

China's new e-passport improves safety for citizens traveling abroad

The Ministry of Public Security in China announced the country will start to issue a new type of passport bearing an electronic chip containing the holder’s personal information, according to the China Daily.

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