'Uncloneable' biometric passports pass the test

Europe has moved closer to the rollout of full biometric passports after key systems were shown to work.

The UK was one of 27 countries that took part in the tests of RFID chips and passport readers for second generation ePassports.

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A is for Accuracy
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C is for Cash machine
D is for Database
E is for Ear
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G is for Gummi bears
H is for Hand geometry
I is for Iris
J is for Juan Vucetich
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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 tests demonstrated that it was possible for different EU countries to produce the ePassports to the same standard and that the ePassports could be recognised by passport authentication systems in multiple countries.

Of the 27 countries, 12 completed the first round of tests and demonstrated their second generation ePassports could be recognised by authentication systems in more than one country.

The second generation ePassports, due to be introduced in the UK in 2011/12, will be fitted with a RFID chip containing fingerprint scans and personal details, which will feature security measures to guard the data against cloning or tampering.

First generation ePassports, introduced in the UK in 2006, typically hold only facial photo scans and ID information from the paper passport on a RFID chip.

Second generation ePassport chips feature increased protection by requiring the passport reader to authenticate itself, reducing the chance of 'skimming' - the practice of an unauthorised reader extracting personal information from the chip. Chip readers will have to be authorised by the ePassport issuer up to one month beforehand to gain access to the ePassport chip.

The communication between the chip and the reader is more strongly encrypted on second generation ePassports compared to the encryption on first generation ones.

Bob Carter of the Identity and Passport Service and chairman of the Brussels Interoperability Group, said in a statement: "The rigorous testing in Prague was a critical step in the European deployment of second generation ePassports."

A spokeswoman for the Home Office said that additional protection on second generation chips would "prevent the chip data from being cloned".

The tests were run by digital security company Entrust.