Though the previous UK passport was already equipped with a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip – the device that makes an electronic passport electronic (read more here) – the redesign ensures a larger degree of safety and protection for the chip.

Once apparent on the outside of the passport, the new UK passport design moves the chip to the inside of the passport cover where it will no longer be visible also ensuring additional physical protection of the chip that contains a holder’s personal information such as name, age, height, birth date and place of birth, among other details.

Moving the chip to the inside of the passport covers also means it will be harder for counterfeiters to replace the chip without physically damaging the passport cover.

Other new security measures include a secondary image of the holder printed onto the observations page, a new transparent covering which includes several holograms to protect the holder’s personal details, and images of well-known UK scenes – including the White Cliffs of Dover, the Gower Peninsula, and the Giant’s Causeway – stretched across each page of the passport.

“Through a combination of physical and electronic security features, the UK passport remains one of the most secure and trusted documents in the worlds, meeting rigorous international standards,” Sarah Rapson, chief executive of the Identity and Passport Service told BBC. “The new design is part of our strategy to stay ahead of criminals who look to fraudulently alter or copy passports.”

The new UK passport will start being issued in October, and will be valid for a period of ten years.

SOURCES:
SecureID News: “UK’s E-Passport Has New Security Features”
BBC: “New UK Passport Design Unveiled In Fight Against Fraud”

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?”