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New global security as maritime workers get biometric ID cards
www.compseconline.com
May 2004
ISSN 0969-4765
id cards/fingerprint
New global security as maritime workers get biometric ID cards Maritime workers across the world will soon be issued with new identity cards that will use their fingerprint information in a bid to increase security. The International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted the new biometric identity verification system at a recent meeting in Geneva. Their decision will affect some 1.2 million maritime workers who between them handle 90% of the world’s trade. ILO said that the new biometric standard is aimed at “providing a more rigorous response to the need for increased security among seafarers in the wake of the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States”. The Seafarer’s Identity Document (SID) will embed two of the seafarer’s fingerprint templates within an internationally standardised 2-D barcode. One of the reasons that barcode technology was chosen was thanks to its relatively low cost compared with alternatives, such as smart cards. Employers’ groups, workers’ groups and a majority of governments represented at the Governing Body meeting supported the immediate approval of a new standard as a matter of urgency to meet new security
measures already being imposed on seafarers worldwide. A controversial move by the UK to delay a decision to allow further consideration of technical matters was not accepted. According to Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, director of the ILO programme: “This new measure brings the most modern electronic identity technology to the uncharted waters of security on the high seas. This is vitally important since in these uncertain times, Continued on back page...
Contents id cards
UK ID card proposals accelerate The prospect of biometric national ID cards has come one step closer in the UK following comments by the country’s home secretary, David Blunkett, that ID card proposals would be released imminently. Blunkett commented that an agreement had been made among top Labour politicians, even though some still had some misgivings, particularly surrounding the issue of privacy. Speaking on national radio station Five Live, Blunkett said: “We are going to publish a draft bill, hopefully, in the next four weeks.” Blunkett’s comments came hot on the heels of news at prime minister Tony Blair’s
monthly news conference that identity cards would be introduced more quickly than had been anticipated. The only stumbling blocks remaining were practical issues and logistics, Blair said. Meanwhile, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens backed the introduction of ID cards saying: “Up to a year and a half ago I would have been against identification cards because we had no certainty that the documentation used for identification cards could actually prove with certainty the identification of someone. But biometrics…is now a certainty in a way that never was before…”
Application news Product news Company news
3 4 6
Feature: 7 Tomorrow’s markets – the security economy Survey: Alternative biometrics Regulars Events Business Watch Comment
ISSN 0969-4765/04 © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This journal and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to their use: Photocopying Single photocopies of single articles may be made for personal use as allowed by national copyright laws. Permission of the publisher and payment of a fee is required for all other photocopying, including multiple or systematic copying, copying for advertising or promotional purposes, resale, and all forms of document delivery. Special rates are available for educational institutions that wish to make photocopies for non-profit educational classroom use.
10
5 6 12
NEWS ...continued from page 1
testing
…maritime card launch
Frankfurt Airport to test face, finger and iris
ensuring the security of seafarers and the ships they work on is crucial to the continued smooth flow of world trade.” After months of negotiations and discussions on both the technical features and the economic as well as political implications for ILO member States, the Governing Body accepted the proposal of a minutiae-based method for fingerprint template creation, truncation and barcode storage. The prioritised biometric profile, ILO SID-0002, will be submitted as a technical report to the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) in support of ongoing collaboration with ISO and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on the issue of international standardisation of the SID. The official adoption of biometrics was an essential step towards implementing the revised Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention, 2003 (No. 185) (Note 1), which was adopted by ILO in June 2003. As a result of the decision, countries can proceed with immediate ratification of Convention No. 185 and begin issuing the new SIDs.
A new project to compare and contrast the suitability of iris, face and fingerprint recognition in an airport environment has begun at Frankfurt Airport in Germany. The BioP II project is being organised by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) in cooperation with the Federal Police Agency (BKA). The large-scale test will evaluate the performance of the biometric systems and began enrolling biometric information from candidates in the first half of April. The test candidates are expected to number several thousand and are made up from employees of Fraport (Frankfurt Airport) and the airline Lufthansa. BSI subcontractor Secunet Security Networks is to manage the project and final test results are expected sometime this autumn. Btt has learned that the technology that is scheduled to be tested comes from four German biometric suppliers, including Cognitec Systems (facial recognition), SD Industries (iris recognition), Dermalog
(fingerprint) and a joint system from Bundesdruckerei and NEC. This project follows on from the BioP I tests in 2003, which focused exclusively on facial recognition methods. The objectives of this new study are, among other things, to obtain insights into the performance, security and user acceptance of the systems under review, and will take into account ICAO recommendations on the use of biometrics and contactless chips in passports. An engineer from one of the companies providing technology to the trial told Btt that the systems have been positioned within four different locations within Frankfort Airport. Each technology will be tested in each different location. Verification of the users was expected to have started by the end of April and test candidates will get incentives to use the systems when they enter and exit the airport. Contact: Astrid Albrecht at BSI, Tel: +49 1888 9582 371, email: [email protected]
Comment The UK has suddenly stepped up several gears towards implementing national ID cards, saying it had gained support from all the Labour Party’s top politicians and that legislation would be drafted within weeks. Elsewhere, millions of maritime workers around the world will now be issued with biometric ID cards storing two fingerprint templates. As a supporter of biometrics I should be rejoicing at the latest news. But – and I can’t exactly place my finger on the reason why – I have to admit to feeling uneasy. This feeling was reinforced when the news came through that I will have to start giving fingerprint images to the US Government if I travel there after the end of September without a biometrically enabled passport. Meanwhile, the prospects of me having such a passport by then are nil. This is because almost none of the visa waiver
12
countries will be ready for the original 26 October 2004 deadline. Indeed the deadline for compliance has now been pushed back two years (little surprise there…). It is within such a short space of time that so much progress has been made in the area of passports and national ID cards, and I truly believe that the people who are working towards introducing them only have their citizen’s best interests at heart. However, the policy makers are moving so quickly that they don’t seem to be taking account of the concerns that people are now expressing – especially the world’s privacy lobby, which has recently come together to express fairly well thought out reasons why biometric technology shouldn’t be introduced. For this reason I am happy at the delay to the October deadline. I still believe biometric technology will be the answer, but there is nothing wrong with more time for debate. Mark Lockie
Editorial Office: Elsevier Advanced Technology, PO Box 150, Kidlington, Oxford, UK, OX5 1AS Tel: +44 1491 411224 Fax: +44 1865 843971 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.compseconline.com
Editor: Mark Lockie In-House Editor: Nova Dudley Production/Design Controller: Olly Walter
In next month’s issue In next month’s issue Btt will be focusing on the fast moving area of passports. Deadlines are now to be extended to allow countries more time to integrate biometrics, but how close to a technological and logistically acceptable solution are we? Plus all the regular sections including news, comment, features and in-depth business analysis.
Biometric Technology Today • May 2004
May 2004
ISSN 0969-4765
id cards/fingerprint
New global security as maritime workers get biometric ID cards Maritime workers across the world will soon be issued with new identity cards that will use their fingerprint information in a bid to increase security. The International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted the new biometric identity verification system at a recent meeting in Geneva. Their decision will affect some 1.2 million maritime workers who between them handle 90% of the world’s trade. ILO said that the new biometric standard is aimed at “providing a more rigorous response to the need for increased security among seafarers in the wake of the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States”. The Seafarer’s Identity Document (SID) will embed two of the seafarer’s fingerprint templates within an internationally standardised 2-D barcode. One of the reasons that barcode technology was chosen was thanks to its relatively low cost compared with alternatives, such as smart cards. Employers’ groups, workers’ groups and a majority of governments represented at the Governing Body meeting supported the immediate approval of a new standard as a matter of urgency to meet new security
measures already being imposed on seafarers worldwide. A controversial move by the UK to delay a decision to allow further consideration of technical matters was not accepted. According to Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, director of the ILO programme: “This new measure brings the most modern electronic identity technology to the uncharted waters of security on the high seas. This is vitally important since in these uncertain times, Continued on back page...
Contents id cards
UK ID card proposals accelerate The prospect of biometric national ID cards has come one step closer in the UK following comments by the country’s home secretary, David Blunkett, that ID card proposals would be released imminently. Blunkett commented that an agreement had been made among top Labour politicians, even though some still had some misgivings, particularly surrounding the issue of privacy. Speaking on national radio station Five Live, Blunkett said: “We are going to publish a draft bill, hopefully, in the next four weeks.” Blunkett’s comments came hot on the heels of news at prime minister Tony Blair’s
monthly news conference that identity cards would be introduced more quickly than had been anticipated. The only stumbling blocks remaining were practical issues and logistics, Blair said. Meanwhile, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens backed the introduction of ID cards saying: “Up to a year and a half ago I would have been against identification cards because we had no certainty that the documentation used for identification cards could actually prove with certainty the identification of someone. But biometrics…is now a certainty in a way that never was before…”
Application news Product news Company news
3 4 6
Feature: 7 Tomorrow’s markets – the security economy Survey: Alternative biometrics Regulars Events Business Watch Comment
ISSN 0969-4765/04 © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This journal and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to their use: Photocopying Single photocopies of single articles may be made for personal use as allowed by national copyright laws. Permission of the publisher and payment of a fee is required for all other photocopying, including multiple or systematic copying, copying for advertising or promotional purposes, resale, and all forms of document delivery. Special rates are available for educational institutions that wish to make photocopies for non-profit educational classroom use.
10
5 6 12
NEWS ...continued from page 1
testing
…maritime card launch
Frankfurt Airport to test face, finger and iris
ensuring the security of seafarers and the ships they work on is crucial to the continued smooth flow of world trade.” After months of negotiations and discussions on both the technical features and the economic as well as political implications for ILO member States, the Governing Body accepted the proposal of a minutiae-based method for fingerprint template creation, truncation and barcode storage. The prioritised biometric profile, ILO SID-0002, will be submitted as a technical report to the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) in support of ongoing collaboration with ISO and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on the issue of international standardisation of the SID. The official adoption of biometrics was an essential step towards implementing the revised Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention, 2003 (No. 185) (Note 1), which was adopted by ILO in June 2003. As a result of the decision, countries can proceed with immediate ratification of Convention No. 185 and begin issuing the new SIDs.
A new project to compare and contrast the suitability of iris, face and fingerprint recognition in an airport environment has begun at Frankfurt Airport in Germany. The BioP II project is being organised by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) in cooperation with the Federal Police Agency (BKA). The large-scale test will evaluate the performance of the biometric systems and began enrolling biometric information from candidates in the first half of April. The test candidates are expected to number several thousand and are made up from employees of Fraport (Frankfurt Airport) and the airline Lufthansa. BSI subcontractor Secunet Security Networks is to manage the project and final test results are expected sometime this autumn. Btt has learned that the technology that is scheduled to be tested comes from four German biometric suppliers, including Cognitec Systems (facial recognition), SD Industries (iris recognition), Dermalog
(fingerprint) and a joint system from Bundesdruckerei and NEC. This project follows on from the BioP I tests in 2003, which focused exclusively on facial recognition methods. The objectives of this new study are, among other things, to obtain insights into the performance, security and user acceptance of the systems under review, and will take into account ICAO recommendations on the use of biometrics and contactless chips in passports. An engineer from one of the companies providing technology to the trial told Btt that the systems have been positioned within four different locations within Frankfort Airport. Each technology will be tested in each different location. Verification of the users was expected to have started by the end of April and test candidates will get incentives to use the systems when they enter and exit the airport. Contact: Astrid Albrecht at BSI, Tel: +49 1888 9582 371, email: [email protected]
Comment The UK has suddenly stepped up several gears towards implementing national ID cards, saying it had gained support from all the Labour Party’s top politicians and that legislation would be drafted within weeks. Elsewhere, millions of maritime workers around the world will now be issued with biometric ID cards storing two fingerprint templates. As a supporter of biometrics I should be rejoicing at the latest news. But – and I can’t exactly place my finger on the reason why – I have to admit to feeling uneasy. This feeling was reinforced when the news came through that I will have to start giving fingerprint images to the US Government if I travel there after the end of September without a biometrically enabled passport. Meanwhile, the prospects of me having such a passport by then are nil. This is because almost none of the visa waiver
12
countries will be ready for the original 26 October 2004 deadline. Indeed the deadline for compliance has now been pushed back two years (little surprise there…). It is within such a short space of time that so much progress has been made in the area of passports and national ID cards, and I truly believe that the people who are working towards introducing them only have their citizen’s best interests at heart. However, the policy makers are moving so quickly that they don’t seem to be taking account of the concerns that people are now expressing – especially the world’s privacy lobby, which has recently come together to express fairly well thought out reasons why biometric technology shouldn’t be introduced. For this reason I am happy at the delay to the October deadline. I still believe biometric technology will be the answer, but there is nothing wrong with more time for debate. Mark Lockie
Editorial Office: Elsevier Advanced Technology, PO Box 150, Kidlington, Oxford, UK, OX5 1AS Tel: +44 1491 411224 Fax: +44 1865 843971 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.compseconline.com
Editor: Mark Lockie In-House Editor: Nova Dudley Production/Design Controller: Olly Walter
In next month’s issue In next month’s issue Btt will be focusing on the fast moving area of passports. Deadlines are now to be extended to allow countries more time to integrate biometrics, but how close to a technological and logistically acceptable solution are we? Plus all the regular sections including news, comment, features and in-depth business analysis.
Biometric Technology Today • May 2004