The European Commission is proposing to integrate biometric identifiers into visas and residence permits for third country nationals. Later this year proposals will follow for biometrics in passports of EU citizens, likely to be similar to the visa proposal.

The Commission and member states want to store two types of biometric data into a contactless chip (RFID). A facial digital image will the 'primary biometric identifier in order to ensure interoperability'. As reported in EDRI-gram nr 13, facial images have been chosen by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) as the primary biometric identifier. The US require facial images in passports for countries to be able to take part in the visa waiver program. Specifically, the US is demanding biometrics into EU passports from 26 October 2004 onwards.

The second biometric identifier in the chip will be digital images of two fingerprints. As all EU countries already have criminal databases with fingerprints this biometric identifier will make it possible to do automated one-to-many checks. The fingerprints taken for visa will be stored into a new Visa Information System (VIS).

The Commission proposal leaves a lot of choices open and seems the product of considerable time pressure. EU members states can choose freely if they want to use the facial image for facial recognition systems. The financial consequences of the proposal are unknown. The Commission states in its draft regulation that the price of the chip is not known but 'with the demand of chips needed for 25 Member States, the price will drop significantly'.

The chip will also have room for additional text. The proposal stresses the need for protection of privacy but gives no insight how this can be achieved when crossing borders. This problem is acutely visible in the recent disagreement between the EU and the US about passenger data. The proposal also lacks any information how the data in the chip can be protected against unauthorised access (read and write) and how third countries can be prevented from storing all biometric data from EU citizens when visiting that country.

Proposal for a Council regulation (COM 2003/558)
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/pdf/2003/com2003_0558en01.pdf