EU COST Action 2101 Biometrics for Identity Documents and Smart cards (BIDS)

With an increase in identity fraud and the emphasis on security, there is a growing and urgent need to efficiently identify humans both locally and remotely on a routine basis. The Action addresses the issues of the global breakthrough by biometrics in identity verification technology that is imminent in terms of its use in identity documents and corresponding applications. The appearance of biometric identity documents such as passports, visas, national identity cards, drivers’ licences and health insurance cards, have triggered a real need for reliable, user-friendly and widely acceptable automated reference mechanisms for checking the identity of an individual.
The main objective of the Action is to investigate novel technologies for unsupervised multimodal biometric authentication systems using a new generation of biometrics-enabled identity documents and smart cards, while exploring the added-value of these technologies for large-scale applications with respect to the European requirements in relation to storage, transmission and protection of personal data. The Action also aims to address challenges in the deployment of the most promising biometric media such as identity document chips and smart cards in their various formats. This will involve considerable study of the application areas and efforts on the development of standards.