ePassports have been issued for more than a decade in industrialized nations. The passport book with its embedded contactless smart card chip is a standard part of international travel these days.
While the specification for ePassports has been thoroughly tested, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is looking at next steps for travel documents and other possible uses for the chip embedded in the books.
ICAO, the United Nations agency that oversees travel document standardization, and its New Technology Working Group have created Logical Data Structure (LDS) 2.0 to increase the functionality of the ePassport smart card chip, says Justin Ikura, co-chair of the ICAO NTWG Logical Data Structure 2.
The LDS is the format used to store the data on the contactless chip. This has to be standardized so that the chips can be read on many different readers in many different countries. “It spells out how to store the biographical and biometric data so that everyone is doing it the same way,” says Ikura, who is also deputy director for the Passport Program Policy at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
LDS2 would add applications to the ePassport by digitizing the remainder of the book and enabling other countries to digitally record travel stamps, visas and additional biometrics, Ikura explains. With the current LDS the chip is locked after issuance and additional information cannot be added.
Visa and travel stamps are difficult to tamper with or counterfeit but LDS2 would strengthen the security by requiring them to be digitally signed by the issuing country, Ikura says. ICAO is still working to figure out what memory sizes the chips would require to properly support LDS2.
“The standard and electronic formatting of LDS2 data not only provides protection against tampering, but also ensures that border control officers can easily decipher and analyze travel patterns and visa information,” Ikura adds.
Countries may also be able to restructure border control stations with LDS, by enabling greater use of Automated Border Clearance kiosks to process more travelers. “The ‘electronification’ of the remaining document data would enable border control to further streamline passenger processing as holders of these documents could securely pass through border control with little to no human interaction,” he says.
That said, adoption of LDS2 is a long way off as some smaller countries are still working to meet the 2015 deadline to place a machine-readable zone on passports. Jumping to LDS2 will take some time, though ICAO is hoping to work with countries to test the technology. Still, it could be five to 10 years before there is broad adoption, says Ikura.
With that timeline in mind, is it possible citizens might see a purely mobile passport in the future? Ikura is doubtful. The ICAO NTWG is exploring the possibility of the mobile device as the passport, but there are many obstacles. “The biggest challenge that I expect relates to marrying travel documents and mobile phone specifications,” he says. “And ensuring that passport credentials stored on a mobile phone are secure.”