Enhancing Privacy for Biometric Identification Cards

Abstract: Most developed countries have started the implementation of biometric electronic identification cards, especially passports. The European Union and the United States of America struggle to introduce and standardize these electronic documents. Due to the personal nature of the biometric elements used for the generation of these cards, privacy issues were raised on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, leading to civilian protests and concerns. The lack of transparency from the public authorities responsible with the implementation of such identification systems, and the poor technological approaches chosen by these authorities, are the main reasons for the negative popularity of the new identification methods. The following article shows an approach that provides all the benefits of modern technological advances in the fields of biometrics and cryptography, without sacrificing the privacy of those that will be the beneficiaries of the new system.