Home Department written question – answered at on 9 February 2005.
Mark Oaten
Shadow Secretary of State for Home Affairs, Home Affairs
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether (a) Biometric passports and (b) identity cards will contain (i) radio frequency identification chips and (ii) contactless integrated circuits.
Des Browne
Minister of State (Citizenship, Immigration and Counter-Terrorism), Home Office, Minister of State (Home Office) (Citizenship, Immigration and Nationality)
The Biometric passport will contain a radio frequency contactless integrated circuit that conforms to ISO 14443 in accordance with ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) recommendations on biometric travel documents. It will be a close proximity-type chip that can only work within 0–2 cm of a reader.
No decision has yet been made on whether the ID Card will contain a chip capable of being read through a contactless interface. Work is progressing on developing the technical, interoperability, security and business requirements which influence this decision.
Yes5 people think so
No6 people think not
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
A measured and/or recorded biological parameter. Example: passport-type photo, finger print, iris detail, retina blood vessel detail, voice pattern, and DNA signature. Technically speaking, mentally stored information is also biometric, so this includes: signature or monograph, PIN number, password and passphrase.
