§ Brian WhiteTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the international standards of biometric data were agreed; and how many countries have agreed them. [173050]
§ Mr. BrowneIn May 2003 the Air Transport Committee of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) agreed world-wide standards for the introduction of biometrics in travel documents to protect against fraud and forgery. ICAO is a United Nations organisation with 188 contracting states.
§ Brian WhiteTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what standards the new passport biometrics will be required to meet; and whether they are compliant with US standards. [173051]
§ Mr. BrowneThe Air Transport Committee of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) agreed that the primary biometric identifier should be a facial image stored on a contactless radio frequency chip. Also that additional biometrics may be used by nations on a bi-lateral basis; fingerprints and iris being agreed for this purpose. These standards were accepted and endorsed by the Committee as the globally interoperable standard and implemented through the International Standards Organisation (ISO), Standards Committee SC37. The USA along with the UK are active participants in this standards work.