Page III: Countries begin test programs -- get ready for a facial scan the next time you take an overseas flight.
And still to be worked out is how to reconcile the rapid progress of the chip industry with the slower pace of government agencies -- in the United States, for example, passports get renewed every 10 years. Looming questions, Handy said, include whether older chips will become easy to crack and whether older passports would be compatible with new systems.
The chips also need to be thin enough to fit inside a passport cover and be outfitted with antennae.
Then there's the way passports get handled. Over their lifespan, the documents get bent, sweat on and pounded with border-crossing stamps.
"Durability is perhaps the single biggest unknown," Kefauver said.
In addition, facial recognition is considered less accurate than other forms of biometric authentication, according to security experts. And global interoperability of equipment needs to be put in place, as does a coordination of national practices. Some nations may adopt algorithms that compare the geometry of the nose bridge between the live person and the stored ID image, while others may compare the larger, facial triangle.
Electronic passports also don't solve one of the key problems with passport issuance: birth certificates. In the United States alone, there are thousands of legitimate forms of birth documents, and they are not linked through a uniform methodology, Kefauver said.
But the biggest hurdle, despite the assurances of security experts, could be public perception.
"Unless public acceptance of biometric (authentication) occurs, forget the rest," Kefauver said.
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