US passports to carry digitally signed images
 
16:03 23 July 03
 
NewScientist.com news service
 
US citizens will be issued with "smart" passports carrying a digitally 
signed photograph by late 2004.

Frank Moss, deputy assistant secretary for Passport Services at the 
US Department of State, says the first digital passports will be issued 
in the US by 26 October 2004. Moss announced details of the plans at the 
Smart Card Alliance Government Conference and Expo in Virginia last 
Tuesday.  

The new passports will include an embedded microchip that stores 
a compressed image of its owner's face. These microchips will be 
designed to prevent tampering and each digital image will be 
cryptographically signed to guarantee its authenticity.   

Not everyone is convinced that digital passports are a good idea. 
Civil liberties groups fear that the introduction of such international
identity schemes could permit governments to monitor the activities of
citizens in unprecedented detail.

(snip)

Full article at New Scientist ....
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993975

Cheers, Steve..

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