Within two years, Irish passports might feature biometric chips containing the holder's fingerprint information, iris scan or facial image, writes Jamie Smyth
The decision by the Department of Foreign Affairs to consider embedding microchips in passports to store personal biometric data such as fingerprints or iris scans sounds like science fiction.
Biometrics, which measures individuals' physical or behavioural characteristics to recognise and authenticate their identity, was until recently considered the sole preserve of police forces and not applicable to day-to-day life.
But that was before the events of September 11th, which have galvanised the US government to enact a raft of security legislation designed to protect itself from terrorists.
The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act, which was signed by President Bush in May, could, from 2004, derail our membership of the US visa-waiver scheme, which enables Irish citizens to travel to the US without a visa.
It is in this context that the Department of Foreign Affairs is considering the introduction of biometrics in the medium term, as the loss of the Republic's visa-waiver status would have a negative effect on trade and tourism.
If the Government decided to introduce a biometric chip on all newly-issued passports from October 2004, the chip would most likely contain a fingerprint, an image of a face, or an iris scan. US immigration officials could use this information alongside a database of known terrorists or criminals to track the movements of potential troublemakers.
This would provide law enforcement agencies and the Government with a useful method of combatting terrorism.
However, critics believe that it could also raise the spectre of a "Big Brother" administration which would be able to track the identity of citizens and exclude them from travelling to certain states or from obtaining certain services.
British civil liberties groups recently opposed a proposal by the British Home Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, to introduce an identity card with a biometric chip embedded in it. And the Irish Council for Civil Liberties said yesterday that it would have major concerns about embedding such a chip in Irish passports.
But the hype surrounding biometrics - which played a major role in the film Minority Report - may have missed the point. Biometrics may not work in many contexts, says Mr John O'Sullivan, vice-president of engineering at the Irish e-security firm Baltimore Technologies. "Many biometrics can be easily copied or replayed, increasing the danger that devices can be fooled and putting severe limitations on the technology," he adds.
And, despite the claims of proponents of biometrics within the technology sector, most unbiased observers have concluded that the technology cannot guarantee 100 per cent success. In an eight-week test of face-recognition technology at an airport in Palm Beach, Florida, the device made a successful match in only 455 instances out of the 958 times it was tested.
Of potentially greater damage to the reputation of biometrics was the finding of a Japanese researcher who demonstrated that most fingerprint readers could be fooled 80 per cent of the time by a mould of a person's finger made from gelatin.
But the technology can be used successfully when supervised by security personnel or staff at check-in desks, says Mr O'Sullivan, suggesting that biometrics in passports may improve security.
Mr Martin Walsh, chairman of the European Biometric Forum and a director of the Irish firm Daon, which develops biometric technology, says that the past six months have seen a significant increase in the use of biometrics. "To be honest, the problem was that the technologies did not work well in the past, but there have been massive improvements lately," he said.
The Republic would not be the first State to adopt a so-called "smart passport" with a biometric chip. Myanmar (formerly Burma) announced last month that it would be inserting chips containing iris-recognition technology into 5,000 passports this year.
This scheme is modelled on Malysia's e-passport system, introduced in 1998.
Regardless of what the Department of Foreign Affairs decides, it is likely that Irish citizens will use the technology to access services in the future.
The Government recently established an inter-departmental group to study the potential uses for biometric technologies. It is likely that a proposed e-government system offering a range of services over the Internet and the telephone system will incorporate some elements of biometric technology.
The technology, then, is unlikely to remain the sole preserve of science-fiction movies.