[IP] Face-Recognition Passports
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/06/15/face.passport/index.html
Face recognition passports expected by December
Yet hurdles could still delay technology
From Mike M. Ahlers
CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The first U.S. passport to feature
facial-recognition technology should be produced by December, but the
technology won't be widely distributed until late 2005, a State
Department official told Congress on Tuesday.
Maura Harty, assistant secretary for consular affairs, said the State
Department plans to test the high-tech passports by issuing them first
to U.S. officials and diplomats.
But citing technological hurdles, she repeated a request that Congress
postpone a looming deadline requiring 27 close U.S. allies to have
similar passports in place by fall.
"Given the time that it has taken to resolve these technical, complex
issues ... few of the visa waiver countries, if any, will meet the
deadline," she said. "It is not a question of ill will. It is very much
a question of difficult science."
On Monday, the House of Representatives voted to give visa-waiver
countries a one-year extension on the deadline.
But Harty and Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson testified
at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that it will
take two years to perfect the technology.
"We have been told by almost all the countries that they cannot get it
done within a year," Harty said.
Hutchinson said, "We believe that all countries can be compliant on
November 30, 2006, and it should be a hard-and-fast deadline. It's
important, I believe, for us to get this process right the first time."
Members of Congress, meanwhile, questioned the use of facial
recognition technology in the passports, saying fingerprints would be a
better identifier. The International Civil Aviation Organization chose
facial recognition as the international standard for passports.
"Every policeman in America can access the fugitive, anybody, and put
their fingerprints in the system and on a short notice determine
whether or not a warrant is out for their arrest. You can't do that
with a face," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, a Republican of Alabama.
Hutchinson said the United States believes that fingerprints "should be
a significant part" of the system, but "we don't have a consensus in
the international community to do that at this time."
The computer chip embedded in the new passports will have the capacity
to include fingerprint information, he said.
Hutchinson acknowledged the shortcomings of the facial recognition
technology.
He said it is "sufficient" at making one-on-one matches but cannot
adequately match a face on a card to large databases of faces.
"We're hopeful that the technology improves as time goes on," he said.
Another problem is that the computer chips are not as durable as they
need to be, he said.
"The chips have a life span currently of three to five years, and as
you know in many instances the passports are issued for six to 10
years," Hutchinson said. "So right now you'll be adding a chip on there
that has a shorter life span than the life of the passport itself."
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