The heightened focus on the security and integrity of travel and national identity documents has given rise to new requirements from data storage technologies.
De La Rue Identity Systems reports it has developed a next generation data storage application, known as PDB which has almost no data capacity or size constraints, the firm claims. <br><br>
In the case of travel documents, ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) now recommends that its member states use a biometric-compatible facial image of the document holder. The new requirements to incorporate facial, fingerprint or iris biometric data in combination with the traditional photograph, signature and biographic data are posing serious challenges for governments in terms of holding this information in a secure but cost-effective way. In many instances lack of space on existing and proposed high security travel documents is causing problems, particularly where traditional barcode technology cannot meet the capacity or density requirements.
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In response to these increased demands to compress and store larger amounts of data, De La Rue Identity Systems recently launched its next generation data storage technology, PDB, which has the capacity to store potentially unlimited amounts of data, the makers say. PDB is applied using laser-marking techniques, with the ability to store as much as 32,000 bytes of data at a size similar to a traditional magnetic strip. PDB is secure, it can be combined with other high security printing devices without impacting the document readability level, making the document virtually impossible to alter fraudulently or counterfeit, the makers say. It is a suitable supporting or back-up storage device for contactless or contact based electronic devices, the firm says. This means that when the chip in the identity document, or the reader itself, fails, the personal data stored in the PDB code can still be accessed using basic verification infrastructure. As a result of PDB’s increased data capacity it is also able to incorporate additional security features such as PKI or digital certificates. Multiple codes of different sizes and resolutions can be printed on a single document and subsequently decoded by the same software. There is no need for investment in complex infrastructure, with all the technology being cost-effective and off-the-shelf, the makers claim. The code can be read on most low cost scanners at almost any scanning angle, resulting in faster facilitation of travellers and insignificant reject levels. Additionally, it can be applied to travel documents using existing document personalisation technologies.
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What they say
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Steve Green, Secure Solutions Manager, De La Rue Identity Systems says: ‘PDB is a real answer to the challenge facing governments today. It enables them to hold large amounts of data, such as images and biometric identifiers, in a secure but cost-effective way without having to invest in new infrastructure or specialist reading devices. They can put their trust in a proven technology that will meet both current and future data storage requirements for travel and national identity documents.’
