NO2ID

While visiting the Home Office's Biometric Roadshow when it came to Scotland, I was told that biometric data would be extracted from photographs by identifying up to 40 points on the face and measuring distances between them.

Does anyone have any more information about exactly what measurements are taken, or what algorithms are used by the UKPS when processing passport applications? Also, does anyone know of any research into the robustness of the measurements, particularly if the photographs have been digitally manipulated before submission to the data capture process?

http://www.icao.int/mrtd/download/technical.cfm

Annex D, section 5.6.3

Thank you!

Depending on how deep you want to go, you may also want to troll the internet for white papers by SchlumbergerSema (now AtosOrigin - UKPA biometric passport implementation) and also PKI/encryption.

This throws up some interesting developers blogs and forums (including contributions from people from AtosOrigin).

Start at http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.ietf.x509/day=20050511

this is a short chat about security limitations and PKI problems between vendors and suppliers and it includes one of my favourite quotes:

"last week (I) went through an argument with a vendor who.....weren't going to change their code, and anyone who didn't like it could bugger off"

Biometrics? No thanks...