News in Brief

Biometric Tech Could Kill Off Paper Passports

The boss of the UK’s Border Force has said that advances in biometrics and data security will soon make physical passports redundant.

As increasing numbers of airports around the world are switching to automated border control schemes, and trials are under way to see if machines can now be used to process younger children in Britain. Pilot schemes are taking place in London’s Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, and families with children aged 10 could be able to use the automatic gates this summer, with government approval.

Phil Douglas, Director-General of UK Border Force, speaking at the Airport Operators’ Association conference in London at the end of January, said: ‘I’d like to see a world of completely frictionless borders where you don’t really need a passport. The technology already exists to support that.’ Douglas went on to say that Britain would be increasing the use of advance information supplied online, with next steps including a universal ‘permission to travel’ requirement for all overseas visitors to the UK. Douglas said: ‘In the future, you won’t need a passport – you’ll just need biometrics.’ There are already instances of pilot schemes for air travellers, including from Aruba to Finland, the Netherlands to India.

In the US, meanwhile, multiple pilot schemes using digital IDs have allowed passengers to check in bags and board contactlessly, while some flying internationally with details stored in schemes such as the Global Entry scheme can pass through gates and borders automatically with facial recognition cameras.

EU Digital Wallet Continues Testing

NOBID (‘Nordic-Baltic eID Project‘), a federation formed by Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Latvia and Norway, has created an application that will serve as the basis for digital wallets of the future.

In March 2022, ID & Secure Document News™ reported that the EU’s ‘digital wallet’ was already taking shape, with the intention that in a single application, European citizens would have access to all types of official documents including ID cards and driving licences. The app will also work for paying taxes and fines and for verifying identity to rent a car. ‘An alternative to the model of large online platforms,’ is the way that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen put it.

The first functioning European digital wallet is being used by NOBID, which is a collaborative arena for innovations enabling access to national digital services to users from other countries. To allow cross-border electronic identity verification, NOBID addresses two issues in particular: Online users should be able to utilise an eID from their home country to identify for digital services in other countries

Access to civil registration numbers for citizens of the other countries when appropriate for digital cross-border service provision.

The Nordic Council of Ministers is project owner and the Norwegian Digitalisation Agency is project manager.

In addition to securely storing identity and private documents, NOBID says that one of its priorities is PSD2 payments. Its payment infrastructure allows you to make online payments, make transfers from one account to another and accept payments in physical stores.

The countries chosen for this pilot test are not by chance, as they are all heavy adopters of digital IDs, with digital ID being mandatory in Latvia.

The results of this pilot will inform the European Parliament’s decision on how it will implement a European digital wallet under the EIDAS regulation of electronic signatures and related data legislation.

Fingerprint Data Issues with Malaysian Passport Renewal

A number of Malaysians could not apply for passports online and had to do so manually because of fingerprint data problems.

The Immigration Department last year processed 2,574,435 passport applications – more than half of which were done online. However, 0.62%of the applicants were instructed to apply manually due to reasons which included photographs not meeting the department’s requirements, fingerprint data problems, or concerns about the authenticity of the application.

Immigration director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud told the New Straits Times that from those who were directed to apply manually, 0.32% had issues due to fingerprint data problems.

He went on to give his assurance to the public that the matter was being investigated. ‘We are trying to improve our online system. The National Registration Department will transfer 2.5 million fingerprint records of our passport holders into our system, batch by batch. The transfer has started at 200,000 per batch.’ He confirmed that the data was not lost but was being integrated into the system. Applicants renewing their passports online will typically receive approval for passport collection via email within three days.

There is also the possibility that there are template mismatches in the configuration of the data. For instance, if you have 10 good finger/thumb prints but 1 short finger, as a result a 4-finger read in some systems will fail as your data will not fit the standard template.

More Than 50 million IDs Issued in the Philippines

More than 50 million national IDs have been issued so far, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has announced. The PSA said it has printed a total of 50,262,059 IDs, broken down into 30,558,332 PhilIDs (the physical document) and 19,703,727 ePhilIDs (the electronic version).

As of 31 January 2022, a total of 23,256,884 PhilIDs have been delivered, the announcement added. Meanwhile, a total of 440,784 ePhilIDs have been downloaded as of 2 February 2023.

‘The PSA, together with its field offices and partner agencies, implemented strategies to provide more Filipinos with the national ID to enable immediate utilisation of PhilSys benefits. This landmark milestone is a testament that our initiatives are effective,’ PSA Undersecretary, National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Dennis Mapa said.

In a related story, The PSA has also announced ePhilIDs can now be used for financial transactions such as opening bank accounts.

In a memorandum, the PSA said Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) would allow the use and acceptance of the ePhilID as sufficient proof of identity in its supervised banks and non-bank financial institutions.

Moreover, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) also released issuances and advisories for the acceptance of the ePhilID as a valid proof of identity, including the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS).

The ePhilID will also be accepted by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) as an accredited government-issued valid ID for passport processing, which includes passport application and renewal.