The British Standards Institute is leading the development
of the international biometric technology standards that will
underpin the government's plans for a national ID card system and
immigration controls at airports.
The standards, due to be published next year, will lay down the
first internationally agreed data formats for fingerprint, iris and
facial recognition system.
International collaboration on the standards has followed pressure
from the US for the worldwide adoption of biometric passports
following the 11 September terrorist attacks.
"Although political pressure is certainly expediting this process,
there is also growing demand from the biometric and IT industry
itself to develop an ISO standard," said Mike Low, director at the
British Standards Institute.
The standards will make it easier for businesses to implement
biometric systems and to understand the reliability of different
identity verification systems, he said.