The Home Office has revealed more about the workings of the biometric database that will support the National Identity Scheme.
In response to questions from GC News, the IPS said the National Biometric Identity Store (NBIS), which will be built by the Identity and Passport Service under a ?265m contract with IBM, will hold both the original images and the derived templates of faces and fingerprints of applicants for passports, identity cards and visas.
The templates derived from these images will be used for automated matching purposes, but the retention of images as well means the system could function as a national database of fingerprints. An IPS spokesperson said the NBIS will be “separate and distinct” from Ident1, the existing national police fingerprint database.
via Home Office: IPS to hang onto snaps of fingerprints ? The Register.
