Ghana goes biometric

Page 16: Daily Graphic, March 20, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
COME Tuesday, March 23, 2010, Ghana will join a number of countries issuing biometric passports to its citizens, in line with an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) demand.
Under the ICAO regimes, it is recommended that member states issue biometric passports by April 1, 2010.
Biometric details are those which are unique to an individual, such as one’s fingerprint, the iris of his/her eye and facial features. Biometric passports are equipped with protection mechanisms to avoid and/or detect attacks.
Biometric passports may have either one or two modes of data storage. In one mode, the biodata of the holder is on a micro-chip embedded in the passport, while in the alternative storage mechanism, the biodata is stored in a two-dimensional (2D) Bar Code.
The main difference between the two modes of storage is that the micro-chip has a bigger storage capacity, although it is susceptible to identity theft or could easily be hacked into by hackers and could be easily damaged, while data stored on a 2D Bar Code is more secure and cannot be accessed without the authority of the holder.
Moreover, the cost of acquiring a biometric passport with a micro-chip is four times higher than that of 2D Bar Code biometric passport.
It has also been proven that illegal organisations, with the appropriate technology, have been able to access biometric passports embedded with micro-chips and managed to alter the data on the chips without the knowledge of either the holders or the passport-issuing authorities, especially in the United Kingdom and Belgium. Sophisticated equipment are also required to read biometric passports embedded with micro-chips but these may not be available at border posts which do not have regular supply of electricity.
Ghana’s choice of biometric passport seems to have been informed by the fact that the biometric passport is more secure because the data or information in the 2D Bar Code cannot be accessed unless the holder surrenders the passport. More so, the 2D biometric passport is more robust while the 2D Bar Code cannot be damaged unless the whole passport is destroyed.
The equipment used to read the 2D Bar Code is also readily available at almost all border posts and does not depend on electrical power and the price is also moderate.
The main disadvantage of the biometric passport is that the storage space in the 2D Bar Code is not as large as that of the e-passport.
Features of Ghana’s Biometric Passports
The paper used for this is a security-grade UV dead paper which is available only in Ghanaian passports and also contains the watermark image of the Supreme Court. As most fraudsters use solvents and acids to alter the passport, the paper contains chemicals, solvents and acids that make duplication impossible.
The background colours fuse in a predetermined shift from one colour to another and also have anti-photocopy and anti-scan designs which make all scanned or photocopied documents useless as they appear ‘moiré’. The passport also has a dual channel intaglio frame which increases its security and makes fraudulent representation impossible. As a result of the intaglio, a hidden image is only visible at a 90-degree angle.
The passport number is visible as black in natural daylight and fluoresces to green under UV light while the use of two-tone invisible fluorescent ultraviolet image and text for the Parliament building and Adinkra symbols make them invisible to the naked eye but can be seen with the use of an ultraviolet lamp.
On page numbering, ladder formation of the page numbers along the edge of the booklet prevents the removal and insertion of non-genuine pages. The pages are also perforated through a laser process, which fortifies its security.
Categories of Biometric Passports to be issued.
There are three categories of biometric passports to be launched; the Diplomatic, Service and Ordinary passports which are issued to citizens on the basis of their status.
Persons to be issued with diplomatic passports include some members of the First Family, ministers, deputy ministers, regional ministers, Members of Parliament, metropolitan/municipal/district chief executives and diplomats accredited to foreign countries.
The diplomatic passport has a red front cover with the national coat-of-arms embossed on the back. The service passport, which has a blue cover, however, is issued to public servants proceeding on overseas training courses or persons empowered to perform specific duties in another country, on behalf of the government .
The ordinary passport, or green-cover passport, is issued to ordinary citizens and naturalised non-Ghanaians who apply for Ghanaian passports.
This passport captures a holder’s facial features and the biometric data of fingerprints which link the holder to the passport. The mode of application and acquisition is that the owner’s biometric data is initially captured and later verified to ensure the right ownership on delivery.
This is expected to help curb fraud, prevent multiple ownership of passports, identity theft and lead to the apprehension of people who may indulge in international acts of terrorism, money laundering and drug smuggling.

Mode of Acquisition
A prospective applicant is first expected to purchase a passport application form from a designated bank or an approved point of sale in the regional capitals and other centres.
The applicant subsequently fills the forms and submits the completed form to the nearest Passport Application Centre (PAC) in Accra, Kumasi, Sunyani, Sekondi/Takoradi, Ho or Tamale, together with relevant documents such as an old passport or birth certificate as evidence of payment to commence the application process. The PACs function as centres for demographic and biometric data capture and transfer, as well as distribution of passports.
At the PAC, applicants will be invited to take a digital photograph together with biometric data of fingerprints. Applicants, at this stage, are given submission receipts from the system and a turn-around date of 15 days or less to collect their biometric passport. All processing fees are paid in consonance with the speed of service delivery: The ordinary or expedited categories.
Data Transfer And Vetting
The COP at the Passport Office in Accra will accept all data transferred from the PACs nation-wide. The vetting process begins with the administrative vetting or verification of all demographic data, followed by the biometric vetting involving the passage of both the demographic and biometric data through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). This confirms the validity of the data stored as genuine for the applicant.
Those who already hold an ordinary passport but qualify and apply for Service or Diplomatic passport, will have their stored data transferred for automatic issuance. Data could also be transferred by the COP to border posts to track down fake passports.
The completed passports are dispatched from the Central Operations Production (COP) unit in Accra to the Passport Application Centre (PAC) where applicants can collect their passports by presenting submission receipts and going through a final biometric check to authenticate ownership of the travel document.