Cross Match invests in AssureTec

Cross Match Technologies makes an equity investment in AssureTec Systems

India confirms ePassport plans

India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, Shri E Ahamed, has confirmed the country’s ePassport plans in a written reply to a question in the upper house of parliament.

Singapore smart card standard launched

New standard could help to eradicate the need to carry multiple cards

Latest ICAO MRTD report scathing of ePassport critics

ICAO’s latest MRTD report features an exclusive interview with Barry Kefauver who confronts media and hacker claims surrounding the security of contactless chips

Ireland launches first phase of AFIS

The Republic of Ireland has launched the first phase of its new Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) for its national police force, the An Garda Síochána, and the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS).

Latvian citizens get new ePassports

G&D has started producing and delivering ePassports for the Latvian government as part of a five-year deal involving 1.1 million documents.

ECOWAS passport takes step forward

Fingerprint biometric provider BioLink has announced that the commissioning stage of the biometric identification system needed for Nigeria’s new ECOWAS ePassports has begun.

De La Rue supplies new Bahamian ePassport

De La Rue Identity Systems delivers Bahamas ePassport

ePassport personalisation launched in Latvia

Bundesdruckerei has set up a personalisation system for issuing ePassports in Latvia

Second generation German ePassports launched

Second-generation ePassports are now being rolled out in Germany with two fingerprints images being stored

Country Profile: Georgia

A profile of Georgia’s passport project

Cross Match IPO back on track

Cross Match Technologies has confirmed that it will proceed with its initial public offering

Update: 18K fingerprint readers for Germany

18,000 fingerprint scanners have been installed across Germany to register ePassport applicants

Multiple biometrics for Norway

Norway has rolled out 21 BioEnrol biometric capture kiosks as part of its biometric ePassport and visa pilot scheme.

RAPID boost to travellers in Algarve

Faro Airport’s RAPID system ’a sign of things to come’, UK Home Office Minister Meg Hillier tells Biometrics 2007 conference

Middle East deal for Bell ID

Bell ID has inked a deal to deliver its ANDiS card and application management system for an ePassport project in the Middle East.

Vietnam moves to 10 year passports

Vietnamese citizens can now apply for ordinary passports with a duration of 10 years instead of the normal five years.

UK ePassport wins praise from MPs

Edward Leigh, chairman of the UK’s Committee of Public Accounts, has praised the country’s introduction of the first generation of ePassports as “an excellent example of successful project management and procurement by the Identity and Passport Service (IPS)”.

GRO to become part of UK IPS in 2008

The GRO in England and Wales will become part of the UK’s Identity and Passport Service from 1 April 2008, following a move to make the Office of National Statistics independent of ministers.

BioDev II trial gets underway in UK

Passengers from Sierra Leone get fingerprints recorded in a new trial underway at London’s Gatwick airport