Passports are key to our future security
Passports are key to our future security
Aug 31, 2005: Our passports could hold the future to our security on an international, national, and personal level, according to a security expert who claims that signatures, pin numbers and passwords are just secure enough anymore to hold back terrorists and identity fraud.
Terry Hartmann, the director of Homeland Security and Secure Identification & Biometrics for the Unisys Public Sector group, believes that a biometric chip inserted inside a passport will enable airports to identify terrorists more easily, and he also believes that in the future, our passports will be so robust enough in terms of security that we will be able to use them for many different reasons.
All new Australian passports issued after October 2005 are scheduled to have biometric chips inserted them, in accordance to the USA Border Policy which was initiated after the September 11th attacks. It applies to all countries that have a visa waiver into the U.S.A., which includes 22 European countries.
Hartmann believes that this new e-Passport will be able to weed out false passports and also identify potential terrorists.
"When a person enters the airport, their face will be scanned in a biometric reader, which will match their facial details against the data in the chipped passport. If there is not a match, that person will be taken to one side for questioning. If the match is accurate, they will go through.
"This system will eventually be linked to an terrorist watch-list too, so that potential terrorists will be identified. The biometric testing is very advanced and will create be far more accurate than current passports."
Hartmann added that passports have been the benchmarks for security around the world for many years and he believes that once this chipped passports have been incorporated fully into airport security, the technology will filter into our everyday life to tighten security for other identity purposes, such as financial and health reasons.
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