Forgers will crack e-passports within a decade

The head of the UK Passport Service (UKPS) claims the biometric technology behind new passports will have to be updated more than once every 10 years in order to keep one step ahead of the criminal gangs who mass produce forgeries.

The UKPS will start issuing the new 'e-passports' from next year. They will contain an RFID-style contactless chip holding a facial recognition biometric. From 2008 the UKPS will look at putting other biometrics - such as iris scans and fingerprints - onto the chip in line with the government's ID card plans.

But in an interview with the Financial Times this week Bernard Herdan, chief executive of the UKPS, said it is a constant battle to keep ahead of fraudsters, and that the new biometric e-passports will probably have to be changed more often than once every 10 years.

"I suspect history will repeat itself... by the back end of [a] 10-year period, my successor will be saying that passports are being mass produced in Bangkok," he told the paper. "All we can do is keep changing the design. We are going to change [the technology] more frequently than every 10 years. Our plan is to keep ahead of the forgers with a faster rate."

The lifespan of biometrics has been a bone of contention with the government's ID card plans. Academics and technical experts have claimed the card and the biometric data will need to be upgraded or replaced every five years, adding to the costs of the scheme. But the Home Office maintains the technology will be good for 10 years.