By Andy McCue, 10 October 2007 00:01
NEWS
The cost of a passport is set to increase "substantially" over the next five years to cover the cost of larger electronic chips that will hold more data and fingerprints.
Fees for adult UK passports have risen by £45 between 1998 and 2006 to £66 with the introduction of the first biometric ePassports. The UK switched to ePassports in 2006 to comply with the US Visa Waiver Programme. These passports contain chips that store biographical data and a digital facial image of the holder.
But a report by parliamentary spending watchdog the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) warns the cost could increase even more with the introduction of the second generation ePassports in 2009.
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N is for Network security
O is for Oxford
P is for Palm
Q is for Queues
R is for Registration
S is for Signature verification
T is for Twins
U is for Universality
V is for Voice verification
W is for Walk
X is for X-ray
Y is for Young
Z is for Zurich Airport
The report stated: "Larger capacity chips will be needed to hold the basic data and fingerprint image and more locations and additional staff will be needed to collect biometric data from adult applicants."
MPs on PAC have also raised concerns about the durability of the chips being used in existing ePassports. To meet the US Visa Waiver deadline the UK's Identity and Passport Service was forced to accept a manufacturer's guarantee of only a two-year lifetime for the chips, even though passports are issued for 10 years.
Edward Leigh MP, chair of PAC, said the public needs to know how durable the chip is and who will pay for a replacement passport if it stops working.
He said in the report: "The prospect of ePassport failures contributing to yet further delays at border controls is not an enticing one."
The report also questions the need for both an ePassport and a national identity card, which will contain similar data.
Leigh said: "Most of us are going to have to have both an ePassport and an identity card. The Home Office needs to explain why an ePassport could not serve both purposes."
But the introduction of ePassports is also praised as a model government IT project, delivered on time and within its budget of £62m.
The PAC report said: "The agency planned from the outset for a cautious, low-risk project. The prototype ePassport and the manufacturing process were both subject to substantial testing, and the agency gave itself enough time for a progressive rollout rather than a big-bang switch from digital to ePassport."
Comments
There are 4 comments. Join the discussion
1. GALLEY SLAVE#41
If the chips break down are we to be left in 'no mans land' as we are when our oyster card breaks down and the jobsworth bus driver wants cash!
Chips are NOT suitable for mounting in anything flexible.
2. Graham Coles
Another example of the UK govenment adopting stupid, insecure methods requested by the US government.
Not only does this allow passport cloning without even opening the bag as the chip can be read wirelessly and the encrypted data is stored alongsite the key, but now they want to raise the price to avoid having to admit that the costing for the disreputable ID card scheme is wrong.
I am amazed at how the government views this as a 'Model IT project'. Apparently if you fail to cost it properly, provide a 10 year passport with chips that may fail in as little as 2 years after issue and destroy any identity security by adding RFID readability it is deemed a model of success.
For most people it would be branded 'another ill-thought out concept whose costs are spiralling out of control requiring the price of a passport to be increased each year despite providing no additional benefit to the recipient.'
3. Phil Darby
I don't get this at all. My wife's Czech Passport carries all this data already and more. The Czech government out-source passport production and the cost to Government comes in at something like £20 each according to a recent press release. They produce them faster too. This is also then subsidised to the holder making the price even lower. It seems to me that the UK government's spending on exercises like this are simply not scrutinised enough and as Brits we just accept far too much. This is only one example of how ridiculous it has all become. My Czech friends just think we are stupid allowing ourselves to be ripped off like this and they are probably right!
4. Tim Jackson
2 years warranty on the chip maybe, but that 7x4cm copper loop antenna fastened to it doesn't look like it would last long in my back pocket.