Fitting passports with biometric data

A number of countries are about to launch trials of passports and visas that incorporate basic biometric information about the document holder alongside the traditional photo and passport number -- data such as a digital image of the citizen's face that will be compared to a facial scan taken at the airport.

The first country to take the plunge is likely to be Belgium, which plans to conduct an e-passport trial later this year, with possible real-world implementation by next year. The UK Passport Office recently announced that it is looking for volunteers to help test the recording and verification of facial recognition, iris and fingerprint biometrics. And New Zealand and Canada are also actively looking into conducting trials.

Australia and the United States, meanwhile, have issued requests for proposals for trials of their own, and the Netherlands is looking at ways for banks to adopt chip-based documents that would be used to confirm identification.

In part, the incorporation of digital data is a natural evolution that brings what have long been purely paper documents into the 21st century. In addition, with global worries about terrorism and other threats on the rise, the technology shift will help governments keep their border checks up-to-date. Banks and other institutions are likely to use the high-tech documents to provide better verification of customers and cut down on fraud and other crimes involving mistaken identity.

"When biometric identity has been confirmed, it does help to prevent the person from using another name in their dealings," said Barry Kefauver, a consultant and former US deputy assistant secretary of state for passport services.

Critics of the technology, however, are worried that governments might use the data to track citizens going about their ordinary business or that miscreants who steal the high-tech passports might be better equipped to carry out identity theft.

"It is too easy to steal information out of a card," said Katherine Albrecht, the founder and director of Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering, or CASPIAN, a policy watchdog created to expose data issues with supermarket loyalty programs.