India will soon begin issuing electronic passports that will use radio frequency identification (RFID) and a biometric chip and will meet International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards.
Major tech company Tata Consultancy Service (TCS), which runs the government's Passport Seva programme, said it was developing innovative new solutions to enable the issuance of ePassports.
The ePassport software was run by the National Informatics Center (NIC) in collaboration with IIT Kanpur. India Security Press, Nashik will provide contactless electronic embedding to make ePassports. Once the acquisition process is complete, the issuance of new passports would begin.
How will electronic passports work?
More than 100 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, already have the biometric passport system. And more and more countries, including India, are moving towards it because it improves security, makes travel easier, and makes the immigration process easier. More than 490 million ePassports are said to be in circulation worldwide.
Passports of all countries must comply with the UN ICAO standard, which allows both machine-readable passports and chip-based passports. The existing Indian passport is a printed booklet that belongs to the category of machine readable passports. And now India is looking to move into the other category. All electronic passports can be recognized by the internationally recognized symbol that is printed on the cover.
E-Passports use contactless smart card technology, which includes a microprocessor chip and antenna embedded in the front or back cover or center page of the passport. The chip of the electronic passports will contain personal data, including the biographical information of the holder. You will also have a unique digital signature for each country that can be verified using a certificate.
Electronic passports will also have security features that will prohibit unauthorized data transfer by RFID. Officials say ePassports will also deter identity theft and tampering because the system will be able to identify you. Basically, the process at the immigration counter is expected to be smoother and faster.
"The electronic passport will improve passport security, eliminate duplication, eliminate data manipulation and will be used by border control authorities to monitor the entry and exit of passengers," the government said.
Electronic passports and digital security
Nowadays, when we talk about biometric data, we can only talk about security. But from the outset, it can be said that electronic passports are no less secure than existing ones. Therefore, security fears are mostly misplaced.
The chip embedded in an ePassport is a secure microcontroller with advanced cryptography and built-in sensors to detect attacks. When the ePassport is personalized and issued, the data written on the chip is signed by the issuing authority using the signing key of your country. Once created and personalized, no information can be changed as ePassports are designed to be read-only.
Anyone wanting to forge an ePassport would need the chip, the data, and all the components and manufacturing know-how.
Also, if an electronic passport is lost or stolen, it is easier to know if it is used or not.
But did you know that electronic passports are nothing new in India?
India 🇮🇳 will soon introduce the new generation of ePassports for citizens: secure #biometric data, seamless passage through #immigration posts around the world, @icao compliant, produced at India Security Press, Nashik, #eGovernance @passportsevamea @MEAIndia #AzadiKaAmritMahotsav pic.twitter.com/tmMjhvvb9WJanuary 5, 2022
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That said, it may come as a surprise to learn that India has already issued around 20.000 ePassports. Indeed, in 2008, at the request of the MEA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the NIC carried out a pilot project for the issuance of electronic passports. Some 20.000 electronic passports for diplomats and officials have already been issued.
The thing is, the government is now bringing it all into the mainstream, also as part of its Digital India campaign.
The government has said there will be no changes to the application process for ePassports. Once the government completes the basic technological processes, applicants will begin receiving ePassports. Until then, only regular passports would be issued. The government has not announced any specific date for the issuance of electronic passports.
"The ePassport readers and the border inspection system must be able to communicate with each other. The interoperability testing of ePassports is a process that generally starts with the specification of standards and continues with testing. The interoperability of ePassports is performed to ensure international interoperability,” the MEA said.
In addition to electronic passports, the government is also considering issuing digital passports that holders can store on their smartphones. But there is still a long way to go.
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