Monday, 9 May 2022

What is e-passport?

 The govt is using technology to usher in transparency. It is now planning to roll out e-passports soon. What is it? And how different will it be from our regular passports? Let us find out

During her Union Budget speech on February 1st, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the government’s plan on the issuance of e-passports embedded with an electronic chip in order to enhance convenience for citizens in their overseas travel. According to the proposal, the e-passport will be a combination of paper and electronic passport, with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip. An antenna will be embedded as an inlay in the back cover.

The passport’s critical information will be stored in the chip and printed on the data page. The characteristics of the e-passport are specified by the International Civil Aviation Organization, an agency of the United Nations. The government clarified that data of the citizens obtained for e-passport will be used only for the purposes of issuance of the passport and related services. There will not be any secondary use of the data, thereby safeguarding privacy concerns.

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