Biometrics in Asia
Michael E. B. FitzPatrick · Airports international · 2005
Japan is moving ahead with biometric airport security systems, including a recent successful trial of e-passports at Tokyo-Narita. Japan is home to the first commercially available iris recognition system, which went on the market in 1998. It is now being used at Frankfurt International. Researchers predict the biometrics business to rise to $369.6 million in fiscal year 2010, with much of it being spent on fingerprint authentication systems. Integrated Circuit (IC) passports and IC card readers are being tested for the e-passport program, which combines biometrics, smart cards and digital signatures. The new IC cards are inserted into a special page of the passport. New passports are slated for public use by March 2006. The Japanese government is considering lowering fees for new passports as an incentive to get more people to switch to the IC technology. The system verifies identities by comparing iris codes captured by a camera to a previously recorded code. It requires just 512 bytes of memory and takes only three seconds and is very precise. Other biometrics systems being tested include a system that distributes an electronic certificate of outline e-passports for Public Key Infrastructure verification. Hong Kong is awaiting delivery of a facial recognition system that will be installed in the immigration office on the borders of Shenzhen in Guangdong Province.