The Indian government issued a decree to issue new RFID passports

According to news on August 17th, according to Times of India and other websites, the Indian government has issued a decree that, starting next year, all citizens of the country will obtain RFID-enabled e-passports in accordance with the law. The RFID technology used in documents is expected to enable India, a country with a population of nearly 1.4 billion, to reduce the incidence of document theft and forgery while simplifying immigration procedures.

The RFID chip in the passport will contain relevant information such as fingerprints, photos and digital signatures of the passport holder. The design of the e-passport will be more durable than ordinary passports, and it will be more secure because it has the function of preventing unauthorized persons from stealing personal data. The automation allowed by e-passports has enabled some airports to provide faster processing times for passengers carrying such documents, as well as greater security at the entry area and security checkpoints.

During the trial period, about 20,000 Indian diplomats used e-passports without major problems. Now, these documents will be issued to all Indian citizens through 36 passport offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India. Starting in 2021, all newly issued passports and renewed passports will use RFID technology and comply with the standards set by the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The chip is about the size of a postage stamp, has a memory of 64kb, and can store up to 30 visits of data. It is expected to significantly speed up the movement of passengers at the airport.

According to SiFy.com, the National Information Center (NIC) of India issued a proposal this week to designate an organization to handle IT infrastructure. The RFP bidding is expected to end at the end of the month. SiFy said that the system needs to process 10,000 e-passports per hour, up to 50,000 per day, and it is expected that the total daily processing volume will increase to 100,000.

India’s plan follows RFID or biometric electronic passport systems in the United States, the European Union, Brazil, Australia, Malaysia, Venezuela and other parts of the world.

This will be a large-scale deployment across India. What is impressive is that India has taken such an important step in the promotion of RFID technology. Privacy advocates may feel uneasy about this, but as long as the Indian government can ensure the security of the system and protect personal privacy data, its e-passport can bring many benefits to the country. Once these benefits are proven, it can help promote other countries to accelerate the deployment of RFID and issue their own RFID passports, thereby making international travel more convenient, safe and efficient.