Despite protests from the opposition and data protection commissioners, Germany is introducing passports that will contain not only a biometric photograph but also the fingerprints of the owner. This makes crossing the border with a counterfeit passport or misuse of the travel document due to similarity almost impossible.
"With the new passport, we are one step ahead of criminals," said Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble while presenting the new electronic passport in Berlin. From today, the chip stored in the front page of the passport will also store the fingerprints of the left and right index fingers, which border officials will be able to read using a special device. This device will be issued by the German Ministry of the Interior, and its misuse will be prevented by a special key without which the device will not function. Fingerprints will not be stored in any central service but only on the chip in the passport.
Data protection commissioners, however, believe that storing fingerprints in the passport opens up the possibility of misuse. Bettina Sokol, the data protection commissioner for the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, fears that, given that the devices will be delivered abroad, sensitive data could be stolen. There was also concern over the news that passport data could be read from several meters away, which is why state services in some parts of Germany are offering new passport holders aluminum covers that should prevent reading from a distance. The state printing house has meanwhile strongly denied that the chips can be read from a distance. The new passport costs 59 euros and is issued for ten years. The government plans to introduce identity cards with stored fingerprints in 2009, as reported by HTV news.
