Identity, Security, Payments, Biometrics, Smart Cards and Authentication News

EU court agrees that UK and Ireland cannot adopt certain Schengen measures relating to biometrics in passports

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The EU’s highest court has ruled that the European Council was correct not to allow the UK and Ireland to adopt new Schengen agreement regulations establishing standards for security features and biometrics in passports. The Court of Justice said the UK and Ireland can only adopt new measures related to the agreement in areas where the two countries are already authorised to do so. The UK and Ireland are not bound by the Schengen agreement, by which member states agreed to gradually remove controls at their common borders and introduce freedom of movement.

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After a nearly three-year delay, the Algerian government has finally launched its biometric passport program.

Magharebia reports that the biometric passports, which contain a contactless smart card chip that holds a digitized photo, fingerprints and signature, were supposed to be released in 2009. But the documents were delayed due to complexities with the operation of the project and the need to thoroughly research and analyze other countries’ experiences with biometric passports.

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Privacy advocates in Canada have been raising concerns over the risk involved in two new biometric programs from the government that result in the sharing of private biometric data with other countries’ governments and possibly private corporations, according to an Embassy Magazine article.

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Precise Biometrics has announced online technology retailer CPS as a reseller and distributor of Precise’s fingerprint and smart card reader lines Precise Sense, Precise 250 MC and Precise 200 MC.

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In an effort to streamline passenger security, Jakarta, Indonesia’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport has opened the country’s first biometric immigration gate.

Fingerprint biometric identification provider BIO-key International, Inc. and Oakwell Engineering Limited partnered to create the new gate, designed for use by passengers with electronic passports. Passengers submit their e-passports and authenticate with a fingerprint.

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The U.S. government has settled an infringement case with Leighton Technologies by agreeing to license its smart cards.

Leighton Technologies, a subsidiary of General Patent, filed a case against the federal government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in January 2010. Leighton alleged that 54 federal agencies used its six smart card patents without authorization. Leighton’s technology was also used in e-passports.

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The UK and Ireland have struck a deal wherein they will share information from visa applications including fingerprint data, according to a BBC News article.

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