Turkey will begin issuing biometric passports on June 1, 2010.

Though all citizens are not required to switch to the new passports right away, those who wish to do so can begin the application process as soon as May 23.

Turkey’s biometric passport will contain information about the holder’s facial features such as the distances between eyes, nose, mouth and ears as well as the passport holder’s personal details such as the holder’s name, date of birth, country of origin, height, etc.

All of this information is accessible to security officers at borders and airports through a small RFID chip embedded somewhere on the passport – typically on the front or back cover.

To retrieve the information from the chip, it must be scanned – in the same way a credit card must be swiped to access its information. Unlike credit cards, however, RFID chips can be scanned via no-touch systems that run on radio frequencies.

The overall appearance of Turkey’s new electronic passports won’t change. Standard passports will be red, diplomatic passports will be black, and special passports will be green.

Currently, around 5 million people hold passports in Turkey, and the country’s foreign ministry renews almost 2.3 million Turkish passports every year.

As of October 2009, over 100 million e-passports had been issued globally.

SOURCES:
Today’s Zaman: “Biometric Passports Set To Arrive In June”
Global Paper Security: “What Are RFID Chips?”

A new report from US-based research firm Acuity Market Intelligence says the the global e-passport market is expected to reach annual revenues of US$7 billion by the end of 2014 as e-passports continue to grow in popularity worldwide.

Acuity projects Europe’s market shares to drop in the industry from 49 per cent to 20 per cent in the next four years, but says the Asian market will experience the most market share growth increasing from 25 per cent to almost 50 per cent of annual market revenues by 2014.

The strongest revenue growth will bi in South America where the compounded annual growth rate will reach 117 per cent, and revenues will increase to nearly $US540 million by 2014.

The Acuity research also shows market expansion in Africa, the Middle East, and regions in the Pacific.

As of October 2009, over 100 million e-passports had been issued globally. With over 70 million new e-passports being issued every year, it is estimated that over the next ten years electronic passports will replace most of the 750 million passports currently in use.

SOURCE:
Security Document World: “E-Passport Revenues To hit US$7Bn by 2014”

New Zealand’s TV One News takes a look at the country’s newly issued e-passport. This passport is considered to be one of the most highly secure, highly technological e-passports in the world.

To learn more about e-passports read some of our previous blog posts like “What are E-Passports?”, “What are RFID Chips?, and Fortress Paper Gets Electronic Passport Contract.

SOURCE:
YouTube: “New Zealand Passport Gets A Makeover”

Canada's Passport will be upgraded to an electronic version in 2012.

Passport Canada announced this week they would be preparing themselves for the launch of electronic passports in 2012.

Like many other electronic passports, the physical appearance of the passport will not change a whole lot. The biggest change comes in the form of a small electronic chip – an RFID chip – embedded in the passport’s cover. Containing key information about the passport carrier such as their name, gender and date of birth the ePassports will also include a digital photograph of the person.

Canadians will have the choice of the current five-year passport or one that is valid for 10 years once the e-passports are implemented.

Though the passports will be launched in a few years, the wait times for ePassports in the conversion process are a cause of worry for some. Back in February, more than 28,000 people in Taiwan applied for ePassports on the same day when the Chinese government decided to raise the fee for passports from NT$400 to NT$1,600. The Philippines saw a recent flood of passport with the looming summer travel season on the horizon receiving at least 30,000 applications since March subsequently doubling the wait time for new passports in that country.
But wait times prior to receiving an ePassport are balanced out by the speed and efficiency of passport usage once they are in the hands of the passport carrier. The RFID chips allow airport attendants or border guards to quickly process travelers and verify their information with a simple swipe of a scanner.

While all ePassports contain the same basic information, others can contain more advanced biometric information such as digital recognition of physical features like fingerprints. London’s Stansted Airport began using facial recognition technology in February introducing Autogates – a self-serve gate that scan the face of passengers and check the digital image against the bearer’s passport photo in seconds.

Canada’s new ePassports won’t have these kinds of high-tech biometrics, just the RFID chips with basic passport information.

As of October 2009, over 100 million e-passports had been issued globally. With over 70 million new e-passports being issued every year, it is estimated that over the next ten years electronic passports will replace most of the 750 million passports currently in use.

SOURCES:
ePassports: Will they improve the system?
Migration Expert: “New Canadian E-Passports To Be Launched”
Phil Technology: “E-Passport Processing Time Doubled”
Taiwan Post: “Over 28,000 People Apply For E-Passport In One Day”

Over the past few years, radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips have become a staple in information storage and protection. Generally used for tracking particular products in a retail environment, for automatic electronic payments, and for animal identification on large farms, RFID technology has been brought to the attention of the public over the past few years due mostly due to their inclusion in electronic passports.

A Short History

The grandfather of RFID technology was actually a spy tool for the Soviet Union. Invented in 1945, the device retransmitted radio waves with audio information. Even though this was a covert listening device and not an identification tag, this spy tool is considered to have paved the way for RFID technology because it was a passive device that was energized and activated by electromagnetic waves from an outside source.

In 1969, inventor Mario Cardullo introduced a radio-frequency device to the New York Pork Authority that was to be used in the transportation sector. Cardullo’s initial business plan showed that the technology could not only be used as an automatic toll system, but also as a security device.

Today, RFID technology is commonplace in the developed world. Because of their micro size, these chips can be embedded into many devices. This technology has particularly helped retailers keep track of products in the shipping and receiving sector. This video shows how:

How RFID Works

Serving the same purpose as a bar code or a magnetic strip on the back of a credit card, RFID chips are information carriers. And just like a credit card must be swiped to gain access to the information it stores, so too must an RFID chip be scanned. The main difference, however, is that unlike a credit card or a bar code, the RFID chip doesn’t need to be in a close proximity to the scanner and requires no contact with another device. Some high-frequency RFID devices can be scanned from a distance of up to 33 feet.

The information on the chip is retrieved via radio frequencies. An antenna puts out radio-frequency signals providing the chip with a means of communication and also the energy to communicate. When an RFID chip passes through the field of the scanning antenna, it detects the activation signal from the antenna. That “wakes up” the RFID chip, and it transmits the information on its microchip to be picked up by the scanning antenna.

RFID and Passports

Electronic passports are gaining popularity all over the world. As of October 2009, over 100 million e-passports had been issued globally.

What makes an electronic passport “electronic” is the RFID chip embedded in the front cover of the passport. The chip contains all the same information that a normal passport would contain – name, date of birth, sex, place of birth, nationality, etc – and this information can be retrieved by border guards or airport attendants with one simple scan thus saving timing and enhancing security at border crossings.

Some RFID chips in e-passports can also contain biometric information – a digital scan of a passenger’s physical characteristics such fingerprints, DNA and irises. In February 2010, London’s Stansted Airport began using these biometric passport gates (read “London Airport Introduces Biometric Scanners”).

In January 2010, Vancouver-based security paper manufacturer Fortress Paper announced a contract that would see the company produce approximately 2,500,000 unites over the net five years (read “Fortress Paper Announces E-passport Contract”), and with over 70 million new e-passports being issued every year, it is estimated that over the next ten years, most of the 750 million passports currently in use will be replaced by electronic passports.

SOURCES:
Technovelgy.com: “What is RFID?”
YouTube: “RFID Technology”
Wikipedia: “Radio-Frequency Identification”

New biometric gates at London's Stansted Airport scan your facial features before allowing you to cross the border. Photo courtesy Passenger Terminal Today.

London’s Stansted Airport has begun using biometric e-passport gates that use facial recognition technology to process incoming passengers.

Passengers with new e-passports traveling to the UK via Stansted can use the Autogates, which scan their face and check their passport photo in seconds – both helping to save time in line and provide a more secure and efficient check-in.

A live image of the passenger standing at the gate is captured and biometric technology then compares this with the image stored on the chip embedded within the passport by measuring specific facial points. If there is a match and they clear security, the automatic gates allow the traveler across the border.

Though many countries have not introduced biometrics (fingerprint, facial, DNA and/or iris recognition) into the equation, simple electronic passports – passports that contain a Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) chip – are increasing in popularity around the world.

These chips embedded in the passport contain all the same information as non-electronic passports such as the passengers name, date of birth, sex, place of birth and nationality.

Biometric passports contain the same chip and the same information, but go a step further to include scans of a passenger’s physical characteristics.

As of October 2009, over 79 countries had introduced biometric passports and over 100 million ePassports had been issued globally. With over 70 million new ePassports being issued every year, it is estimated that over the next ten years, most of the 750 million passports currently in use will be replaced by electronic passports.

And with the demand for e-passports increasing, security paper manufacturers are seeing an increase in business.

In January, Vancouver-based Fortress Paper was awarded a contract to make 2.5 million e-passports which will be enabled with RFID chips and have the capability of storing biometric data (read “Fortress Paper gets electronic passport contract”).

SOURCES:
Fingerprint Sri Lanka: “UK’s Stansted Airport deploys biometric e-passport gates”
Passenger Terminal Today: “Stansted deploys 3M biometric passport gates”
Fortress Paper: “What are ePassports?”

As this image shows, an RFID device is embedded in the passport making it "electronic"

From news of the technologically advanced New Zealand passports, to the recent multi-million dollar contract awarded to Vancouver-based Fortress Paper to produce over two million ePassports over the next five years, the shift to electronic passports is happening on a global scale.

What makes ePassports “electronic” is Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) – a small electronic device embedded in the passport consisting of a small chip and an antenna that allow passport information to be transmitted via radio signals.

Serving the same purpose as a barcode or the magnetic strip on the back of a credit card, an RFID provides a unique identifier for a passport allowing only those who scan the document – like a border guard or an airport attendant – to retrieve the confidential information it holds.

Unlike barcodes and credit cards, however, an RFID device doesn’t need to be scanned at a close proximity and requires no contact with another device.  Some high-frequency RFID devices, like those found in some US passports, can be scanned from up a distance of up to 33 feet.

ePassports contain all the same information as non-electronic passports – name, date of birth, sex, place of birth, nationality, etc – but also have the capability to include biometric information like fingerprint, facial, DNA, and iris recognition. Digital signature technology verifies the authenticity of the data stored on the chip.

As of October 2009, over 79 countries had introduced biometric passports and over 100 million ePassports had been issued globally. With over 70 million new ePassports being issued every year, it is estimated that over the next ten years, most of the 750 million passports currently in use will be replaced by electronic passports.

SOURCES:
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Technology-Article.asp Technovelgy.com: “What is RFID?”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-frequency_identification Wikipedia: “Radio-frequency identification”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biometric_passport#New_Zealand Wikipedia: “Biometric passport”
http://globalpapersecurity.com/fortress-paper-announces-epassport-contract-and-an-update-on-the-planned-production-increase-at-its-landqart-mill.htm Global Paper Security: “Fortress Paper Announces ePassport Contract…”

Banknote 2009: a four-day conference focusing on emerging trends in the banknote industry.

On December 6, global banknote industry leaders will head to Washington, DC for Banknote 2009 – a four-day conference that brings together the public and private sectors to focus on emerging trends in the banknote industry.

Though the Banknote conference began in 1998 as a specialty event focusing primarily on banknote substrates, it has become more focused in recent years on changing technologies and issues specific to the production, distribution, and security of banknotes.

Presentations at this year’s conference include a large number of security-related topics including presentations on Canadian and US counterfeiting situations and trends, a discussion of safety elements on the new Danish banknote series, and a lecture on improved overt and covert security features for banknotes, among many others.

The Banknote conferences are also a chance for banknote manufacturers, producers, suppliers, etc to discuss and introduce new products to the marketplace. One such company is Fortress Paper.

The international supplier of security and specialty papers is expected to introduce their new polymer banknote paper called Durasafe – a hybrid banknote that is not only highly durable, but also includes a transparent window as a security feature – in DC during the conference.

Banknote 2009 takes place in Washington, DC from Sunday, December 6 to Wednesday, December 9.
For more information visit their website.

SOURCES:
Banknote 2009