ID card "route map" revealed by UK Passport Service

A "route map to ID cards" has been outlined by the UK Passport Service (UKPS) that will see facial biometrics in passport books from 2005 and a second biometric - either a fingerprint or iris scan - on separate passport cards from 2006. These cards are set to form the basis of a UK national ID card.

The timetable is revealed in the UKPS' Corporate and Business Plans 2004-2009 published this week, although actual implementation is dependent on the results of ongoing biometric trials and on the necessary legislation being passed by Parliament.

In the medium-term, facial biometrics in new passports will enable the UKPS to comply with new International Civil Aviation Organisation and US border controls, which are supposed to come into effect in October this year, and cut down on fraudulent applications.

"In the first instance, we will be piloting the use of facial recognition to compare each applicant's facial image against our stop-file images of known fraudsters," the report said.

The broader plan is for UK citizens to be issued with both a passport book and passport card containing biometric chips from 2006. The "route map" is tied closely to the Home Office's proposed ID card bill and the UKPS is working closely with the department and the DVLA on the plans.

"We also expect to be a key participant in the implementation of the ID card scheme, with passport cards serving as ID cards and issued to the high standards of integrity required by the scheme," the report said.

The UKPS is currently prototyping and testing biometric chip-enabled passports with a view to issuing them from mid-2005, then switching its entire production to them by the beginning of 2006. A pilot into the collection of fingerprint and iris scans from the public is also underway and the results will be evaluated later this year.

But the changes will come at an increased cost to the public. The cost of a passport is projected to rise from £41 to £78 by 2008, based on applicants receiving both a book and card from 2006. Proposals are also being looked at to reduce the lifetime of a passport from ten years to just five years.

"Reducing the validity period would help us preserve the integrity of the document design, deal with issues of chip lifetime and enable upgraded biometric chips to be inserted on a more regular basis," the report said. "On the other hand it would create a significant extra financial burden on our customers and would be operationally challenging."

Other plans outlined in the report include a "person-centric", as opposed to a passport-centric database and greater sharing of data with both public and private-sector organisations. Some data, in compliance with data-protection regulations, will also be sold on to third-parties.

"A passport-verification service is currently being defined," the report said.