New international standards for biometrics that will
apply to the government’s controversial ID cards project have been
published by standards body BSI.
The four BS ISO/IEC 19794 standards cover the recording of
fingerprints, iris scans and facial recognition – measurements that
are set to be used for ID cards if the ID legislation is passed by
parliament.
But the Home Office is already sounding out potential ID card
suppliers, issuing a prior information notice earlier this month in
a bid to test market capacity before a full procurement
exercise.
BSI said the standards were aimed at protecting individuals
against ID inaccuracies as well as protecting UK commercial
interests in the biometrics industry.
Compliance with the standards will help to ensure that biometric
data recorded by one body can be directly compared with
measurements produced by another organisation or vendor’s
equipment. But BSI warned that interoperability between different
vendors of biometric products and services would also require
testing or other checks.
BS ISO/IEC 19794 will apply to UK passports and ID cards, if
established, along with access management systems, forensic
identification, ID product and service vendors and ID issuing
authorities.