Fingerprints on passports

RIGA- In order to reduce the risks of counterfeiting and identity thefts, the Latvian migration authority is set to begin issuing passports with micro-chips that include digital pictures of the holder's fingerprints starting from September 15, 2008.

Latvijas Avize daily reports that initially the inclusion of these data in passports had been planned from July 1, but that it was delayed as the producer of micro-chips did not receive the license in time.
Latvia will be the second country after Germany to start issuing passports with fingerprints. Under the EU law all member states are required to start issuing passports with biometric data by the summer of 2009.

Last November, the Latvian Citizenship and Migration Affairs Board started issuing passports of the new standard that include a scanned picture of the holder. As of September 15, a digital picture of fingerprints will be added to this biometric data.

Although fingerprints are considered sensitive biometric information, they are available on any surface the person has touched. For that reason fingerprints are unprotected and can be made public very easily. At the same time all information on the micro-chip, including the picture of fingerprints, is strictly protected.