Use of passport biometric data matching causing false negative matches
Apr 23, 2019, 4:52 am
#1
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Use of passport biometric data matching causing false negative matches
One of the under-covered realities when it comes to biometric passports is that the the biometric capture and/or biometric data storage for passport chips can be compromised/messed-up from the start too and thus make things like immigration/passport control on entry and/or exit more messy.
All it takes is a people, process or technology failure of sorts when it comes to biometric capture and storage of biometric data for passports, and then the user of the biometric passport -- a passport that otherwise may appear to be a valid biometric passport issued properly to its bearer -- can face problems of sort at passport control or elsewhere due to additional biometric data capture not matching up with the presented passport's previously captured biometric data.
For example, there are at least a hundred thousand currently valid EU passports where the fingerprint data stored on the passport chips will automatically fail to match requested fingerprint scans of the passport bearer's fingerprints. Cause: right-hand fingerprints got stored as left-hand prints or left-hand prints got stored as right-hand prints.
All it takes is a people, process or technology failure of sorts when it comes to biometric capture and storage of biometric data for passports, and then the user of the biometric passport -- a passport that otherwise may appear to be a valid biometric passport issued properly to its bearer -- can face problems of sort at passport control or elsewhere due to additional biometric data capture not matching up with the presented passport's previously captured biometric data.
For example, there are at least a hundred thousand currently valid EU passports where the fingerprint data stored on the passport chips will automatically fail to match requested fingerprint scans of the passport bearer's fingerprints. Cause: right-hand fingerprints got stored as left-hand prints or left-hand prints got stored as right-hand prints.
Last edited by GUWonder; Apr 23, 2019 at 6:23 am
Apr 23, 2019, 6:18 am
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Fingerprint errors found in over 200,000 Danish passports ? The Post
Originally Posted by from the head of the IT company involved in the Danish passport blunder
"It’s difficult to imagine that this will give citizens much of a headache. It’s only the state police [Rigspolitiet] that has access to the encryption key to where the error is found, and many affected citizens have probably travelled with their passports without any problems,” Jonathan Jřrgensen, the head of Kube Data, told Frederiksborg Amts Avis.
Apr 23, 2019, 7:03 am
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And the following is just Denmark for fingerprint mess-ups.
Fingerprint errors found in over 200,000 Danish passports ? The Post
My bet is that it is indeed true that the vast majority of such passports with biometric data flaws have been used and generally used without issue.
Fingerprint errors found in over 200,000 Danish passports ? The Post
My bet is that it is indeed true that the vast majority of such passports with biometric data flaws have been used and generally used without issue.
Apr 23, 2019, 10:44 am
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They satisfy governments ever-hungry for more data on their citizens' movements, even if said data is wrong.
They enrich government contractors and their pet politicians.
This is a key reason I don't like this kind of technology. There's way too much ignorant misplaced faith in 'databases' and zero common sense, no matter how obvious or egregiious the error.
Mistakes happen and when it's obvious there's an error, the government should make it a top priority to immediately hand-walk a solution through the system.
They enrich government contractors and their pet politicians.
This is a key reason I don't like this kind of technology. There's way too much ignorant misplaced faith in 'databases' and zero common sense, no matter how obvious or egregiious the error.
Mistakes happen and when it's obvious there's an error, the government should make it a top priority to immediately hand-walk a solution through the system.
Apr 23, 2019, 12:50 pm
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For example, there are at least a hundred thousand currently valid EU passports where the fingerprint data stored on the passport chips will automatically fail to match requested fingerprint scans of the passport bearer's fingerprints. Cause: right-hand fingerprints got stored as left-hand prints or left-hand prints got stored as right-hand prints.
Apr 23, 2019, 1:01 pm
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There is no easy fix. First, there must be an identification of an error on each affected passport and the details of the error; then there has to be consideration whether or not to notify an individual passport holder of the error and/or the nature of an error; and then there is the issue of how to best provide notification, if any, to the individual with an issued passport; and then they have to figure out how to, if at all, go about fixing the error on the passports and potentially on databases too.
Apr 23, 2019, 2:23 pm
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There is no easy fix. First, there must be an identification of an error on each affected passport and the details of the error; then there has to be consideration whether or not to notify an individual passport holder of the error and/or the nature of an error; and then there is the issue of how to best provide notification, if any, to the individual with an issued passport; and then they have to figure out how to, if at all, go about fixing the error on the passports and potentially on databases too.
Apr 23, 2019, 2:50 pm
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That doesn't fix error data on and for a biometric passport and the passport's user. What you suggest as a workaround may at times provide a workaround for a person who knows of an error subject to avoiding a negative match by way of your suggestion, but there are times when the workaround for a biometric capture/storage error won't work or may cause additional problems for the user of a biometric passport that can yield false negatives of sort for the user of the passport.
Apr 26, 2019, 5:50 am
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Here's another article on the subject:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/0...zhnvfp-5XJO7rs
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/0...zhnvfp-5XJO7rs
Government agencies and airlines have ignored years of warnings from privacy groups and Senators that using face recognition technology on travelers would massively violate their privacy. Now, the passengers are in revolt as well, and they’re demanding answers.
May 8, 2019, 2:06 pm
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This is exactly what happens in SIN - going in they scan both thumbs, coming out you press only one - whichever you prefer.