British Passports: What information are held in the Biometric Chips?

Question

Apart from name and the usual details that are found in the laminated paper. What is the point of having the chips and also what information are stored in them?

Answer 1

There is at this time NO biometric information held on a British Passport.

Answer 2

A biometric passport is a combined paper and electronic identity document that uses biometrics to authenticate the citizenship of travelers. The passport's critical information is stored on a tiny RFID computer chip, much like information stored on smartcards. Like some smartcards, the passport book design calls for an embedded contactless chip that is able to hold digital signature data to ensure the integrity of the passport and the biometric data.

The currently standardized biometrics used for this type of identification system are facial recognition, fingerprint recognition, and iris recognition. These were adopted after assessment of several different kinds of biometrics including retinal scan. The International Civil Aviation Organisation defines the biometric file formats and communication protocols to be used in passports. Only the digital image (usually in JPEG or JPEG2000 format) of each biometric feature is actually stored in the chip. The comparison of biometric features is performed outside the passport chip by electronic border control systems (e-borders). To store biometric data on the contactless chip, it includes a minimum of 32 kilobytes of EEPROM storage memory, and runs on an interface in accordance with the ISO/IEC 14443 international standard, amongst others. These standards ensure interoperability between different countries and different manufacturers of passport books.

Answer 3

they are able track the persons movement where ever they are in the world.

Answer 4

it's so if your passport is stolen then reworked to have someone elses picture and details on the picture page, it will show at immagration  check points that the passport doesn't belong to the holder, stopping illegall aliens getting into countries .  

Also speeds up the time spent at imagration.    

Answer 5

I just got a new passport which allegedly holds the biometric data matching my photo (measurements of facial characteristics).

I have heard that the systems which check the data against the photo aren't working reliably.

The answer really is - who knows for sure?