U.K. passport agency begins trial on biometric IDs

The U.K. Passport Service (UKPS) on Monday launched its six month trial of biometric technology involving 10,000 volunteers, the same day that the U.K. government introduced its draft bill for potentially compulsory biometric identity cards and a central database of all of its citizens.

As proposed by U.K. Secretary of State for the Home Department David Blunkett last November, ID cards will carry biometric identifiers in an embedded chip, which is then linked to a "secure national database" called the National Identity Register.

The draft bill introduced Monday will be followed by a period of consultation, where the public and politicians can voice their concerns or support of the proposal. The finalized bill will be introduced to Parliament sometime in the last three months of the year and will most likely become law before the next general election, which is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2005, Blunkett said.

The database would be created by 2010, and by 2013 ministers would decide if the ID cards would become compulsory for everyone through the use of biometric passports or driving licences. Though citizens would have to own and pay for the ID card, they most likely would not be forced to carry it with them at all times, Blunkett said.

Blunkett has repeatedly hailed the biometric ID cards as a powerful weapon in the government's fight against identity fraud, illegal workers, illegal immigration, terrorism and for combating the illegal use of the National Health System (NHS) as well as other government entitlement programs.

The draft bill did not include any estimates for the costs of implementing the biometric ID card program, but past official estimates have put it anywhere between £1.3 billion (US$2.3 billion) and £3.1 billion.

The database is expected to contain such information as name, address, date of birth, gender, immigration status and a confirmed biometric feature such as electronic fingerprint, a scan of the iris of the eye or of a full face, according to a Home Office spokesman.

The UKPS trial will test for all three biometrics traits: electronic fingerprint, a scan of the iris of the eye and a full face scan, according to a spokeswoman for Atos Origin SA, the company running the trial for the government.

"This is the first time that three different biometric technologies from three different suppliers have been integrated into one solution," according to Atos Origin spokeswoman, Caroline Crouch. The technical challenges may also account for why the trial, launched at Globe House, the London Passport Office, is three months behind the originally announced launch date.

Atos Origin (formerly SchlumbergerSema, a subsidiary of Schlumberger Ltd.) is responsible for the delivery and installation of the equipment and software for the trial, while NEC Corp. is supplying its Automated Fingerprint Identification System. Identix Inc. is providing the fingerprint capture and facial matching technology and Iridian Technologies Inc. is responsible for the iris recognition technology. The survey research component of the project will be undertaken by London-based market research company MORI (Market & Opinion Research International).

The UKPS has already determined that it will initially use a facial recognition biometric chip in the British passport. The agency is also considering whether it will include a secondary biometric, either the image of the bearer's iris or fingers, in a later version of the passport, the Home Office spokesman said Monday. A chip with the biometric facial identifiers will first be included in passports beginning "sometime" in 2005, which will in turn "build the base" for the ID card plan, the spokesman said.