News | ID & Secure Document News™

Francis Tuffy

30 Jan. 2026

3 min read

Update on UK Plans for Digital ID

The UK government announced a new national digital ID scheme in September 2025, framed as a way to modernise access to public services and tighten right-to-work controls. Since then, policy and delivery plans have shifted several times. Now, we take a further look at changes in governance, scope and possible expansion of the scheme.

Technical Features

Francis Tuffy

30 Jan. 2026

2 min read

De La Rue – CBN Joint Venture Targets UK Passport Manufacture

De La Rue has entered into a strategic joint venture with Canadian Bank Note (CBN) to bid for the next generation of British passports, with the aim of returning booklet manufacture to the UK after roughly a decade of production in Poland under Thales DIS (formerly Gemalto). Personalisation of British passports is already carried out in the UK.

Company

Francis Tuffy

30 Jan. 2026

2 min read

Latin America Moves Closer to Digital Identity Interoperability

Latin America’s long-standing ambition to enable cross-border use of national digital identities is entering a more concrete phase.

News

Francis Tuffy

26 Jan. 2026

1 min read

The Gambia Chooses Supplier for National ID Infrastructure Upgrade

The Government of The Gambia has signed a build -operate–transfer (BOT) contract with Margins ID Systems Applications Ltd (MIDSA), a subsidiary of Ghana’s Margins ID Group, to modernise the country’s identity infrastructure and produce new national identity cards.

ID Cards

Francis Tuffy

12 Jan. 2026

2 min read

Mexico Moves Toward Nationwide Biometric CURP

Mexico is preparing to scale up a biometric version of its Unique Population Registry Code (CURP), adding biometric identifiers to a credential that already underpins most administrative processes in the country. The updated CURP keeps the familiar 18-character code but incorporates fingerprints, a facial photograph, an iris scan and an electronic signature to support stronger identity verification.

Biometrics

Francis Tuffy

6 Jan. 2026

3 min read

What Makes Holography WOW in ID and Travel Documents?

As part of a research initiative led by Reconnaissance International, a recent industry survey set out to define the elusive ‘WOW factor’ in holographic security features.

ID Cards

Francis Tuffy

23 Dec. 2025

2 min read

New Report Finds ID cards at Risk

Entrust’s new ‘2026 Identity Fraud Report – The Changing Face of Fraud’ highlights how national ID cards have become the soft underbelly of global identity systems. Compared with ePassports and many driving licences, ID cards often carry fewer physical and digital security features and can be governed by less stringent issuance processes. As a result, they represent a disproportionate share of fraudulent ID documents detected in remote onboarding and KYC checks, making them a key target for organised crime.

Studies, Reports

Francis Tuffy

23 Dec. 2025

3 min read

New Document Issues

From December 2025, His Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) will begin issuing a fully redesigned British passport in which the most visible change is the replacement of Queen Elizabeth II’s Royal Arms with the coat of arms of King Charles III on the cover and title page.

New Document Issues

Francis Tuffy

23 Dec. 2025

3 min read

Asia Honours Excellence in Passport and ID Design

The annual Regional Banknote and ID Document of the Year Awards (2 December 2025), a highlight of the High Security Printing™ (HSP) Asia conference, took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, bringing together issuing authorities, security printers and solution providers from across the region to acknowledge excellence in the industry.

Events

Francis Tuffy

23 Dec. 2025

4 min read

Building a Secure Identity Community

This year, Reconnaissance completed a rebranding exercise across its newsletters. Each title now carries a strapline that states, in a few words, what it is for. For most, this was a largely descriptive exercise. For ID & Secure Document News™ (IDN) we chose something different: a line that expresses a purpose – ‘Building a secure identity community’.

Editorial

Francis Tuffy

23 Dec. 2025

4 min read

2025: A Year in Review

The year opened with a characteristically ‘British’ approach to identity: no overt national ID card, but a de facto digital identity system constructed from government platforms, KYC schemes and emerging mobile credentials.

Studies, Reports

Francis Tuffy

23 Dec. 2025

4 min read

News in Brief

The Biometrics Institute has released a new good practice paper, ‘Biometrics and Account Recovery’, focusing on one of the weakest links in digital identity: how users regain access when authentication fails or accounts are compromised.

News

Francis Tuffy

23 Dec. 2025

6 min read

HSP Asia 2025 – Shaping the Identity Agenda

The 21st High Security Printing™ Asia conference, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 1-3 December 2025, delivered the strongest identity-focused programme in the event’s history. A total of 337 delegates from 145 organisations across 51 countries, including representatives of 34 governments and central banks, met to examine how physical and digital identity systems in the region are evolving and how document design must respond to increasingly sophisticated attack vectors.

Events

Francis Tuffy

23 Dec. 2025

2 min read

Authentix Brings Nano-Optic Plasmonics to IDs with PICO Secure™

At High Security Printing™ (HSP) Asia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Authentix announced the commercial launch of PICO secure™, described as the world’s first nano-optic, plasmonic optical variable device (OVD) engineered specifically for identity documents. Building on Authentix’s established nano-optic platform, PICO secure delivers always-on structural colour and pronounced movement effects aimed at Level 1 public authentication.

Company

Francis Tuffy

15 Dec. 2025

2 min read

New Document Issue – United Kingdom Passport 2025

From December 2025, His Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) will begin issuing a fully redesigned British passport in which the most visible change is the replacement of Queen Elizabeth II’s Royal Arms with the coat of arms of King Charles III on the cover and title page. The Home Office describes the redesign as the first ‘wholly new’ British passport configuration in five years and positions it as the most secure version of the document yet produced.

Passports

Francis Tuffy

8 Dec. 2025

2 min read

Regula’s New Mobile Document Reader

Regula has released the 7320, a portable document reader that brings many functions of a fixed border-control workstation into a handheld unit.

Company

Francis Tuffy

3 Dec. 2025

1 min read

Secure Account Recovery with Biometrics

The Biometrics Institute has released a new good practice paper, Biometrics and Account Recovery, focusing on one of the weakest links in digital identity: how users regain access when authentication fails or accounts are compromised.

Authentication

Francis Tuffy

1 Dec. 2025

3 min read

Two Roads to Digital Identity

Two announcements in October highlight how differently the US and Europe are approaching digital identity.

Editorial

Francis Tuffy

1 Dec. 2025

3 min read

Laser Colour Personalisation from TOPPAN Security

At the ICAO TRIP Symposium in Montreal this year, TOPPAN Security introduced CHROMA, a laser-based colour personalisation technology that aims to remove the longstanding trade-off between portrait quality and document security in polycarbonate identity documents. With claims to be the first laser system to deliver full-colour, photo-realistic portraits engraved within a polycarbonate body, CHROMA is targeted at passports, ID cards and other government-issued credentials.

Technology

Francis Tuffy

1 Dec. 2025

1 min read

ODDS 2025 Proceedings – Now Available

Published for the Optical & Digital Document Security™ (ODDS) community, this peer-reviewed volume is a record of the 2025 conference held in Warsaw, Poland, from 16-17 September. The conference was organised by Reconnaissance International with guidance from the ODDS Technical Committee. The proceedings offer a concise, authoritative snapshot of the field, with contributions from industry, academia and government.

Studies, Reports

Latest News

Update on UK Plans for Digital ID

De La Rue – CBN Joint Venture Targets UK Passport Manufacture

Latin America Moves Closer to Digital Identity Interoperability

The Gambia Chooses Supplier for National ID Infrastructure Upgrade

Mexico Moves Toward Nationwide Biometric CURP

What Makes Holography WOW in ID and Travel Documents?

New Report Finds ID cards at Risk

New Document Issues

Asia Honours Excellence in Passport and ID Design

Building a Secure Identity Community

2025: A Year in Review

News in Brief

HSP Asia 2025 – Shaping the Identity Agenda

Authentix Brings Nano-Optic Plasmonics to IDs with PICO Secure™

New Document Issue – United Kingdom Passport 2025

Regula’s New Mobile Document Reader

Secure Account Recovery with Biometrics

Two Roads to Digital Identity

Laser Colour Personalisation from TOPPAN Security

ODDS 2025 Proceedings – Now Available

Sign Up to ID & Secure Document News™ Weekly