A
biometric passport, also known as an
e-passport,
ePassport or a
digital passport, is a combined paper and electronic
passport that contains
biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of travelers. It uses
contactless smart card technology, including a
microprocessor chip (computer chip) and antenna (for both power to the chip and communication) embedded in the front or back cover, or center page, of the passport. Document and chip characteristics are documented in the
International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) Doc 9303. The passport's critical information is both printed on the data page of the passport and stored in the chip.
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is used to authenticate the data stored electronically in the passport chip making it expensive and difficult to forge when all security mechanisms are fully and correctly implemented.