The e-passport will contain an electronic chip, which stores personal information of the holder, including name, data of birth, photo, fingerprint and signature.
The Ministry says that the e-passports are compliant with standards released by ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation), ensuring security and privacy of the personal information of holders.
The application process will largely remain the same, with two additional steps to collect the applicant’s fingerprint information and signature. Citizens who are under 16 years old or whose fingerprints are missing are exempted from the fingerprint collection process, according the Ministry.
The new e-passports will have a refined design, with images representing the 31 provincial level jurisdictions, Hong Kong & Macau Special Administrative Regions, as well as Tiananmen, the Great Wall and the Temple of Heaven.
The Ministry says that more than 10 million passports were issued countrywide last year. And this figure is expected to rise by 20 per cent this year.
Since 2004, more than 90 countries and territories have started issuing e-passports. And China started issuing electronic official & diplomatic passports last year.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Jianggan Li
Quelle/Source: futureGov, 07.05.2012
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