The Netherlands is looking to develop biometric passports and national ID cards integrating two biometrics and following the standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
It is doing so in partnership with the national printer, SDU Identification. The Dutch Ministry of the Interior launched the pilot in September 2004.
It is the first time in the world that such a programme is launched on a network of several city halls of major cities, thus allowing more than 15,000 volunteers to benefit from biometric passports or ID cards. They integrate a contactless chip containing the individual’s demographic data and two biometric – the photograph and both forefinger prints. Both biometrics are checked when the passport is collected.
The passports and the cards are designed, manufactured and personalised by SDU Identification. French biometrics firm SAGEM has provided the fingerprint processing algorithms necessary to enrol applicants and verify that the same person collects the document when it is ready. In 2003, SAGEM delivered a pilot system for fingerprinting -and facial- recognition biometric visas to the Dutch Government.
Meanwhile SAGEM has been selected by The Reserve Bank of Malawi to install a fingerprint recognition system that secures card and e-purse issuance throughout the country. SAGEM claims that it has broken new ground with the design of an AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) for banking applications. This new biometric solution, the makers say, secures banking titles and rights by verifying the applicant’s identity (i.e he/she is who he/she claims to be) and uniqueness (i.e. the individual is not known under another name).
The identity certification service enhances, according to the firm, an installed computer system composed of an inter-banking clearing switch and a virtual private network, as well as national POS and cashpoints infrastructure. Some 400 000 biometric cards have already been issued in Malawi for uses such as clearing funds, salary payment and day-to-day expenses.
