Identity documents

U.K.'s new way to prevent people from assuming identity of deceased persons
A new — and controversial — regulation allows U.K. government agencies more sharing of personal data they hold of U.K. citizens; the Home Office says one benefit of the new regulation is better prevention of fraudsters assuming the identity of dead people
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GAO: DHS's plans for tracking foreigners leaving U.S. needs work
GAO says that DHS has not developed accurate cost estimates for the proposed tracking of travelers leaving the U.S. and has failed to include how much the system would cost airlines and cruise lines to build
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Dominican Republic enacts sweeping biometric data measure
Citing concerns about crime and public safety, the Dominican republic enacts sweeping biometric data requirements; as of January 2009, anyone who has not supplied their biometric data will not be able to make any banking transactions or get a firearms permit
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TSA, American Airlines launch paperless boarding
Paperless boarding pass will allow passengers to receive boarding passes electronically on their cell phones or PDAs
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TWIC deadline for Florida -- and the U.S. -- looms
Florida port workers have until 13 January 2009 to pay the $132 and register for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential card; entry to all U.S. ports will require the TWIC card as of 15 April 2009
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U.K. passports costs rise by 39 percent to pay for biometrics
Fingerprinting and facial scanning are costly procedures, and the Home Office attempts to recoup the cost of adding biometric data onto the document
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Some federal agencies fail to meet secure ID October deadline
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had set 27 October as the deadline for agencies to issue the cards to all federal employees and contractors; 28 percent of the federal employee workforce and 30 percent of contractors who require the cards have received credentials
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Global Entry arrives in Atlanta
U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents who pre-register for the program may use the Global Entry kiosk as an alternative to the regular passport control line
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Use of cheap RFID chips make new U.S. passports vulnerable
Americans can now apply for the U.S. Passport Card, which is also known as the Pass Card; the RFID chips are cheap Class One Generation Two models, which are vulnerable to cloning
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TSA to assume responsibility for watch list matching responsibilities
There have been many — many, many — complaints about the accuracy and effectiveness of DHS no-fly watch list; TSA takes responsibility from individual airlines for matching names on the list with passengers
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Interpol plans facial recognition database to catch suspects
Every year more than 800 million international travelers fail to undergo the most basic scrutiny to check whether their identity documents have been stolen, Interpol has warned; the organization plans a massive face-recognition database
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Visa Waiver Program expanded
Six more countries admitted to the Visa Waiver Program: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and South Korea
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DHS, Michigan reach agreement on enhanced driver's license
The Michigan agreement, similar to that reached with other states, seeks to create an enhanced driver’s license — which denotes both identity and citizenship — as a compliance option to fulfill Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) requirements
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Hacker reveals how to compromise e-passport systems
An anonymous technology researcher discusses the ease with which e-passports may be compromised by hackers
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U.S. considers waiving visa requirement for Israelis
U.S. may add Israel to the Visa Waiver program in 2009, after Israel implements a new biometric passport for Israeli citizens
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