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MINISTRY OF BUSINESS,
INNOVATION & EMPLOYMENT
HTKINA WHAKATUTUKI
16 March 2018
James Sullivan
[FYI request #7332 email]
Ref: DOIA 1718-1063
Dear Mr Sullivan,
I refer to your email of 25 February 2018 requesting under the Official Information Act 1982, the
following:
•
Does NZ Immigration have the IT infrastructure and processes in place to verify that the data
stored on biometric passports was put there by the issuing government?
•
This would be done by verifying the cryptographic signature of the data was made by the
issuing government. Not just reading the contents of the passport alone.
More details on this can be found on the Passive Authentication section in this Wikipedia link.
https://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Biometric passport#Data protection
Our Response
Immigration New Zealand uses smart passport readers to test and authenticate passports. The
smart passport readers perform a number of physical and electronic checks on passports including;
• E-Chip validation (incorporating Basic Access Control),
• E-Chip to MRZ Crosscheck tests, and
• · Comparing the bio-page photo against the photo stored on the electronic chip.
The INZ smart passport readers have Passive Authentication and Active Authentication capability.
Should you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, please contact Nicola
Medway, Senior Business Advisor, Business Support, Immigration New Zealand at
[email address].
Yours sincerely
Nicola Hogg
General Manager - Compliance, Risk and Intelligence Services
Immigration New Zealand
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment