Machine Readable Travel Documents

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Data page of the German passport with machine-readable area (current sample)

With Machine Readable Travel Documents ( MRTD ) are machine-readable travel documents referred. Basic for the specification of such travel documents is Doc 9303 Machine Readable Travel Documents published by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) , which has been continuously developed since the first edition in 1980. The purpose of these regulations is to expedite the handling of passengers at airport passport control points. ICAO Doc 9303 has been available in its 7th edition since 2015 and contains specifications for machine-readable passports, visas and ID cards.

In 2016, more than 100 states and international organizations (e.g. the United Nations ) issued electronic passports with memory chips, so-called ePassports , in accordance with the specifications of ICAO Doc 9303. There are currently over 490 million machine-readable ePassports in circulation.

standardization

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is the most important international organization for the standardization of travel documents. The task of the ICAO is the development and further development of uniform regulations for the safety, regularity and economic efficiency of international air traffic, the planning and development of which are to be promoted (Art. 44 Chicago Convention).

The ICAO is closely (Engl. In their activities with the International Organization for Standardization International Organization for Standardization , abbreviated ISO ) intertwined. Specifications for machine-readable travel documents are primarily developed by the ICAO, whereby the cooperation and advice of the ISO is ensured by membership in the Technical Advisory Group for machine-readable travel documents (Technical Advisory Group on MRTDs). Changes or additions to ICAO document 9303 are also included in the related ISO standards (ISO / IEC 7501-1, -2, -3). Conversely, the ICAO includes the standardization efforts of ISO SC 37 in its work.

The ICAO's work on machine-readable travel documents began in 1968 with the establishment of a commission to develop recommendations for the standardization of machine-readable passport books and passport cards. Based on the work of this commission, the ICAO first published specifications and guidelines for machine-readable passports in 1980 in the form of Doc 9303 . Based on this document, Australia, Canada and the United States issued machine-readable passports for the first time.

The ICAO's New Technologies Working Group of the TAG / MRTD began work on biometric identification systems and associated storage media in MRTDs in 1998. Most of the work had already been completed by the time the events of September 11, 2001 led many states to attach greater importance to the security of travel documents and the identification of the holder. The technical reports developed on the use of biometric features, contactless chip technology, logical data structures (Logical Data Structure, LDS) and public key infrastructure (PKI) were published in 2006 in Part 1 (Machine Readable Passports) Vol. 2, 6th edition of the Doc 9303 and 2008 in Part 3 (Machine Readable Official Travel Documents) Vol. 2, 3rd edition of Doc 9303.

In 2006/2008 the ICAO document 9303 comprised the following 3 parts
Part 1: Machine Readable Passports
Volume 1: Passports with Machine Readable Data Stored in Optical Character Recognition Format
Volume 2: Specifications for Electronically Enabled Passports with Biometric Identification Capability
Part 2: Machine Readable Visa
Part 3: Machine Readable Official Travel Documents
Volume 1: Official Travel Documents with Machine Readable Data Stored in Optical Character Recognition Format
Volume 2: Specifications for Electronically Enabled Official Travel Documents with Biometric Identification Capability
With the publication of the 7th edition in 2015, Doc 9303 was revised and formatted into 12 parts
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Specifications for the Security of the Design, Manufacture and Issuance of MRTDs
Part 3: Specifications Common to all MRTDs
Part 4: Specifications for Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) and other TD3 Size MRTDs
Part 5: Specifications for TD1 Size Machine Readable Official Travel Documents (MROTDs)
Part 6: Specifications for TD2 Size Machine Readable Official Travel Documents (MROTDs)
Part 7: Machine Readable Visas
Part 8: - (Reserved for future use)
Part 9: Deployment of Biometric Identification and Electronic Storage of Data in eMRTDs
Part 10: Logical Data Structure (LDS) for Storage of Biometrics and Other Data in the Contactless Integrated Circuit (IC)
Part 11: Security Mechanisms for MRTDs
Part 12: Public Key Infrastructure for MRTDs

In principle, the machine readability of travel documents is divided into two sub-areas: optical readout and electronic readout.

Optical readability

In addition to the personal data of the owner and a photo, a two-line text area was already provided for the data page in ID-3 format in the 1st edition of ICAO Doc 9303 , which is set in the machine-readable OCR-B font and contains the most important data. This so-called machine readable zone (English. Machine Readable Zone , abbreviated MRZ) can be read out optically by a corresponding reader.

Electronic readability

Signet for electronic passports, affixed to the cover of such a passport for identification

From the sixth edition of the specification, the ICAO has specified the use of biometric data and RFID chips. If a state decides to do so, data such as fingerprints or iris features can also be stored on the travel document. The data stored in the electronic passport are a prerequisite for the use of automated border control systems ( EasyPASS ).

The European Commission has spoken out in favor of the mandatory use of facial and finger features , with iris recognition being an option. No application of iris recognition is planned in Germany. In 2005 the federal government justified the decision against the iris as a biometric feature with the unsolved patent question of the technology used in iris recognition systems. In the meantime, the patents in question from Iridian Technologies and Leonard Flom and Aran Safir have expired due to the passage of time.

The RFID chips integrated in the document can communicate wirelessly (13.56 MHz) in accordance with the ISO / IEC 14443 standard with a passport verification device and thus enable the encrypted data to be read out from a certain distance (ranges up to ten centimeters depending on the chip) . There are also called higher ranges, because some countries (eg. As the United States ) provide identity card -like travel documents (Passport Card) with RFID technology in the UHF band to 900 MHz, allowing the read range of up to 6.6 meters . Such documents, however, are not MRTDs according to the ICAO specification, which is why the US passport card , for example, is not approved for international air travel. An RFID protective cover is provided for such documents to protect against unauthorized reading of the chip.

German passports issued after November 1st, 2005 have an RFID chip. This is usually a MCS-51 -compatible microcontroller with Kryptokoprozessoren that an RSA - algorithm up to three times faster than a PC count. To prevent unauthorized reading of electronically stored data ( skimming or eavesdropping ), part 11 of Doc 9303 specifies cryptographic security features for eMRTDs (electronic machine readable travel documents).

Names with special characters

Umlauts , diacritics , the letter " ß " and other special characters (such. As æ, œ, š, ž) are in the MRZ either circumscribed (for the name. B. M ü ller → M UE LLER , Gro ß → UPPER SS ) or replaced by normal letters (e.g. D é sir é e → D E SIR E E ). This means that the name is spelled in two ways in the document, which can cause confusion, especially abroad. The German naming rights (no. 38 NamÄndVwV) also recognizes special characters in the last name as the reason for an official name change (even a mere change of notation, z. B. of M Ü NETELLER to M UE NETELLER or WEI ß to WEI SS applies as such).

Austrian identification documents can contain a trilingual explanation (in German, English and French) of the German special characters, for example "'ß' corresponds to / is equal to / correspond à 'ss'".

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b International Civil Aviation Organization (Ed.): A Passport With Machine Readable Capability . Doc 9303 1st edition. Montréal 1980.
  2. ^ A b c d International Civil Aviation Organization (Ed.): Machine Readable Travel Documents . Doc 9303. 7th edition. Montréal 2015, ISBN 978-92-9249-790-3 (English, icao.int [accessed February 29, 2016]).
  3. ↑ ePassports Basics. icao.int, accessed January 5, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b Gerrit Hornung: The digital identity . Legal problems with chip card IDs: digital ID card, electronic health card, JobCard procedure. Ed .: Prof. Dr. Alexander Roßnagel in cooperation with TeleTrusT Deutschland e. V. (=  Electronic right-hand traffic . Volume 10 ). Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden 2005, ISBN 3-8329-1455-2 ( uni-kassel.de [PDF; 2.5 MB ; accessed on March 17, 2016]).
  5. ↑ Diana Ombelli, Fons Knopjes (ed.): Documents: The Developer's Toolkit . IOM - International Organization for Migration and Via Occidentalis Editora Lda., 2008, ISBN 978-92-9068-407-7 , pp. 76 (English, iom.int [PDF; 2.4 MB ; accessed on September 5, 2016]).
  6. ↑ ISO SC 37
  7. ^ Charles Chatwin: The story of standardization - A history of ICAO and ICAO Document 9303 . In: Keesing Journal of Documents & Identity . No. 36 . Keesing Reference System, October 2011, pp. 1–6 (English, keesingjournalofdocuments.com [PDF; 730 kB ; accessed on September 5, 2016]).
  8. ^ A b International Civil Aviation Organization (Ed.): Machine Readable Travel Documents . Doc 9303, Part 1: Machine Readable Passports - Volume 1, Passports with Machine Readable Data Stored in Optical Character Recognition Format. 6th edition. Montréal, Quebec, Canada 2006, ISBN 92-9194-753-9 ( icao.int ( Memento from May 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; 1.1 MB ; accessed on February 29, 2016]).
  9. ^ A b International Civil Aviation Organization (Ed.): Machine Readable Travel Documents . Doc 9303, Part 1: Machine Readable Passports - Volume 2, Specifications for Electronically Enabled Passports with Biometric Identification Capability. 6th edition. Montréal 2006, ISBN 92-9194-757-1 ( icao.int ( Memento from June 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; 832 kB ; accessed on February 29, 2016]). Machine Readable Travel Documents ( Memento of the original from June 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.icao.int
  10. ↑ German Bundestag, 15th electoral term (Ed.): Biometric data in identification papers . Answer of the federal government to the small question of the MPs Gisela Piltz, Ulrike Flach, Rainer Funke, other MPs and the parliamentary group of the FDP. No. 15/4616 . Berlin January 4, 2005 ( bundestag.de [PDF; 236 kB ; accessed on March 17, 2016]).
  11. ↑ Patent DE69232314T2 : Biometric personal identification system based on iris analysis. Filed October 10, 1992 , published June 20, 2002 , applicant: Iridian Technologies, Inc., Moorestown, US, inventor: John G. Daugman. ‌
  12. ↑ Patent EP215818B1 : Iris recognition system. Filed February 4, 1986 , published July 31, 1991 , applicant: Leonard Flom, Aran Safir, inventor: Leonard Flom, Aran Safir. ‌
  13. ↑ Passport Card. travel.state.gov, accessed March 9, 2016 .
  14. ↑ Product Bulletin. Texas Instruments Gen 2 Integrated Circuit - Gen 2 IC Based on EPCglobal Gen 2 Specification. (PDF; 208 kB) Texas Instruments , 2006, archived from the original on April 13, 2014 ; accessed on February 29, 2016 .
  15. ↑ International Civil Aviation Organization (Ed.): Machine Readable Travel Documents . Doc 9303, Part 11: Security Mechanisms for MRTDs. 7th edition. Montréal 2015, ISBN 978-92-9249-799-6 (English, icao.int [PDF; 916 kB ; accessed on February 29, 2016]).