In the near future, Chinese will have their identity authenticated by a three-yuan (US$0.36) memory card to replace traditional identity card, passport, employee’s card and driver’s license, experts said.
Chinese scientists from a non-governmental company has recently invented the new system, named “Digital Biological Information Passport”, to conduct identity authentication.
The passport uses the individual’s biological information in the form of fingerprints, iris information, eyeground information and palm lines, which provide personal uniqueness and have long been regarded as the safest way to identify an individual.
Authorities are able to collect the biological information and store it in a memory card by a secret key encryption. The invention solves the key problem of security and privacy in identity authentication, the scientists said.
The stored information can also be used in other such media as intelligent cards, floppy disks and Internet or intranet databases.
The system is of low cost and excludes possibilities of fabrication and personation, experts said.
Currently, citizens in China and other countries are identified by documents consisting of information that can be directly recognized by the human eye, such as photos, words or characters, making forgery or personation easier.
“The invention is nothing but a revolution in individual identity authentication,” Shen Ning, the company’s marketing manager, said, adding that his company is applying for a worldwide patent.
(21dnn.com 10/07/2000)
