PHOTOBOOTH Today’s and tomorrow’s most compliant

and highest reliability ID capture solution

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The photobooth remains the best and most consistent way to capture images that meet the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation. It has a high-quality camera, controlled and colour-balanced lighting, and powerful software which checks the image before printing to warn a customer of any compliance issues.

All these elements are missing with home made pictures.

The ICAO sets the rules that all countries must follow for passport documents, the ISO maintains the standards that show how best to comply with the ICAO rules.

Her Majesty’s Passport Office has been testing the idea of selfie-photos for since April 2016. The idea is extremely popular idea: photos are free, quick and easy to take. However it exposes the UK passport process to new and unnecessary risks and is problematic for the public.

In France, the Government has standardised on Digital upload for driving licence applications and looks set to move other ID documents to the same system.

In New Zealand where there are no photobooths, the selfie photo has proved unpopular and carries an official Government Health Warning on the website.

“We recommend you get your photo taken at a pharmacist, PostShop or by a professional photographer. This way it’s more likely your photo will be accepted”. https://www.passports.govt.nz/passport-photos/

An Internal Affairs spokesman stated that a high percentage of passport photos submitted online are rejected for various reasons.

Following beta trials of their ‘Selfie’ process in the UK during which more than a quarter of people were still unable to successfully upload a photo after 3 attempts, HMPO have now asked the photo-industry to come up with a digital upload process which better meets the needs of UK citizens.

Photo-Me successfully demonstrated such a system to HMPO last year and are now engaged in an official Alpha trial which is expected to become a public Beta trial before the end of 2017, and roll out fully in 2018.

The fact that this system has already rolled out in France, and will be run out in the Republic of Ireland within the next 2 months, means that the UK trial is more about fine-tuning the proven process rather than breaking new ground.

HOW DOES THE PHOTO-ME DIGITAL UPLOAD SYSTEM WORK?

The customer gets their photo in the usual way from their usual supplier, and simply has to enter a reference number during their online application.

Independants:

1Approved ID photo suppliers capture and validate image. 2

HMPO compliant .jpg file sent to secure photo collector vault and Customer given photo with unique reference.

3During the online application process , Customer inputs the unique photo reference printed on their photo.

4HMPO application process automatically uploads the photo from the secure vault using the unique identifier reference.

5The Photo-Me Collector Vault deletes photo after upload or when > 6-months old.

jpg Photo-Me Collector Vault

HMPO Web Application Process

It is fair to say that the UK Civil Servants who ‘sold’ the populist notion of selfie photos to their ministers may now be in a position where they need to back-track on this position, but feel unable to do so because of the investment already made. It would not be a surprised if the selfie idea is just left to wither and die once the new digital upload services come online from Photo-Me and other retailers.

SELFIE VS PROFESSIONAL

HOME-PRODUCED PHOTOS

• Convenient for customers• Cheap for customers• Sub-optimal lighting• Compromised image resolution from cropped camera-phone images• Uncontrolled Camera to Subject distance• Uncontrolled camera angles• Very poor image integrity, images can be easily manipulated:• Morphed- where one photo is blended with another• Cosmetically enhanced- to reduce wrinkles or distinguishing marks• No control over the age of the photo• Technical challenge for many people for both capturing and uploading the photo• High rejection rate by HMPO, increasing the costs of passport processing

CONTROLLED-SOURCE PHOTOS (PMI DIGITAL UPLOAD)

• Convenient for customers• Process is the same as today• No technical challenges for customers• Same price as today• Optimised lighting• Optimised image resolution• Good image integrity, images could not be easily manipulated• Photo checked for ICAO compliance• Control over the age of the photo• Knowledge of exactly where and when the photo was taken and by whom thus mitigating the threat of morphing

1. The ambient lighting in someone’s home gives incorrect colour representation and poor control of shadowsThis is important because shadows give the face visual depth definition, allowing better manual assessment when correctly used. Shadows in the background cause problems when scanning the image for use in a passport.

2. The resolution of the captured image is uncontrolled and variableThe United Nations ICAO rules governing passport images require that details as small as 1mm should be clearly visible in the image. This is not the case when HMPO guidance is followed for home photos because the image has to be severely cropped.

3. The camera to subject distance is uncontrolled and variableImage distortion becomes a problem when this distance is too close or too far away, this causes the head shape to change and facial features to appear different.

HOME-PRODUCED PHOTOS: PROBLEMS AND THREATS (1/4)

HOME-PRODUCED PHOTOS: PROBLEMS AND THREATS (2/4)

4. The angle between the camera and the face is uncontrolled and variableImages must be captured straight-on otherwise biometric data captured will be incorrect causing problems at e-gates.

5. The camera depth of field is uncontrolled and variableICAO rules require that the area between the tip of the nose and the ears is all in focus.

6. The age of the photo is variable and uncontrolledICAO rules require that the photo should ideally be taken within 1 month of the application and certainly not more than 6-months.

7. The photo may have been manipulated for cosmetic/vanity reasonsThere are already many phone apps which allow you to easily doctor a photo to remove wrinkles or blemishes, change the shape of your eyes, etc. This kind of post-capture manipulation of images is prohibited by the ICAO rules and can cause problems with e-gate recognition.

8. The photo may have been manipulated for nefarious reasonsThe US Department of State as recently concluded a study which found that blending (or morphing), as little of 25% of one person’s image with another will allow both people to travel using the same document. For example: if a terrorist on an international watch list blends his photo with his cousin’s or anyone’s who looks a bit similar to him, he would be able to travel undetected under that person’s identity.

9. Photos which are not of optimum quality inhibit the security and speed of e-gatesA recent ICAO report states that “Enhancing the overall quality of photographs improves the usability of the document at the border and furthers the ability of border services offices to match the holder to the document”

HOME-PRODUCED PHOTOS: PROBLEMS AND THREATS (3/4)

10. Poor quality photos threaten the international integrity of the UK passportThe international community works together through the ICAO to ensure that your travel documents are secure and can be read anywhere in the world. If UK passport photo quality does not keep pace with the rest of the world, it means that UK travellers may be delayed at border crossings because the e-gate security is stronger than that in the UK, or as a worst case, the UK passport becomes the document of choice for terrorists and falls into disrepute.

HOME-PRODUCED PHOTOS: PROBLEMS AND THREATS (4/4)

THE NEW SECURITY RISKS FROM HOME PRODUCED PHOTOS

• In the past, images could only be manipulated by skilled people with the right equipment and software.

• With digital photos, images can be easily manipulated on any PC and by many free apps on your phone without any skills or specialist knowledge.

• One of the manipulations possible is called ‘Morphing’, where one person’s image is blended with another. If you look in your app store from your phone, you’ll find several free aps that can do this.

• The new system currently on trial with HMPO addresses and mitigates these new risks.

IMAGE MANIPULATION

A presentation by the US Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs to the ICAO NTWG June 2016

MANIPULATING IMAGES IS EASY

SUMMARY:

• Image manipulation at home is easy and cheap

• As little as 25% of one image blended with another allows both people to use the same passport

• E-gates and humans cannot detect blending (or morphing)

Why would any country invite this risk?