USATODAY.com - EU needs more time for biometric passports

Wed Mar 30 22:29:05 EST 2005

So much for the US government's big rush to get them done this year, to the 
extent that they haven't thought out the implications of the RFID chip 
(although they realize they should call it anything but RFID, because the 
acronym RFID is a magnet for animosity).

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2005-03-30-eu-passports_x.htm?POE=TRVISVA

<http://usatoday.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=USATODAY.com+-+EU+needs+more+time+for+biometric+passports&expire=&urlID=13726909&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Ftravel%2Fnews%2F2005-03-30-eu-passports_x.htm%3FPOE%3DTRVISVA&partnerID=1664&showBibliography=Y>

EU needs more time for biometric passports
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — The European Union on Wednesday told the U.S. 
Congress the bloc needed another year to implement new U.S. rules on secure 
biometric passports, which include a computer chip with data such as a 
digital photo of the passport holder.

EU justice and interior ministers had said last year they would meet this 
year's Oct. 26 deadline. But only six of the 25 EU countries Belgium, 
Finland, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, and Sweden will be ready to issue 
biometric passports by that date.

After Oct. 26, citizens from 27 visa-exempt countries will have to apply 
for a visa or have a biometric passport.

The EU's Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini wrote on 
Wednesday to James Sensenbrenner, head of the U.S. House of 
Representative's Judiciary Committee that although the bloc had made 
substantial progress, it would require more time, until Aug. 28, 2006, to 
introduce the new passports.

"Despite all the progress ... we would urge the Congress to consider a 
second extension of the deadline," Frattini said in the letter. The United 
States had already extended the original Oct. 26, 2004, deadline by a year.

Frattini said the issuing of similar U.S. passports was also experiencing 
"a certain slippage" due to problems in adapting the new technology to 
passports. Japan also will be unable to meet the U.S. deadline, officials said.

So-called biometric features can reduce patterns of fingerprints, irises, 
voices and faces to mathematical algorithms that can be stored on a chip or 
machine-readable strip. EU countries also want to include a fingerprint on 
the chip.

"Despite all the progress made ... in reinforcing the security of passports 
you are surely aware that critical aspects of the biometric technology, 
such as data security and interoperability of reading devices, are still 
being finalized," wrote Frattini.

Frattini said the EU "shares the view of the United States that more secure 
travel documents are an important tool in the fight against international 
crime and terrorism."

The United States is urging European countries to have new biometric travel 
documents in place as part of its tighter border security checks following 
the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

All new U.S. passports issued by the end of 2005 are expected to have a 
chip containing the holders' name, birth date and issuing office, as well 
as a a photo of the holders' face. The photo is the international standard 
for biometrics, but countries are free to add other biometrics, such as 
fingerprints, for greater accuracy.

Also Wednesday, the EU head office released a report on the impact of using 
biometrics, which said more large-scale field trials were needed to ensure 
the new technology worked properly. It also urged governments to ensure 
safeguards for privacy and data protection in the use of biometric data.

Links referenced within this article

Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2005-03-30-eu-passports_x.htm?POE=TRVISVA

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