In 20 minutes of 27 March I found the following article: past the bouncer - with a bogus C-card It describes how foreigners are forged identity cards, to subvert the age limits in clubs. This following comment from the Federal Office for Migration (from the above mentioned article):
"The most common is simply pasted over the picture," confirmed spokesman Jonas Montani. But at the end of year, should have solved the problem: "Because of the Schengen Agreement Foreign ID cards must have credit card format. And from 2010 they will even be biometrics, "says Montani.
Today's ID cards but are already "biometric" - they have a photo that can be compared by any means without the card carrier. Since the card is divided into two and the side with the card can be easily removed, is the paste over the photos very easy to do. Against this type of attack are in credit card size ID cards actually a lot better equipped. Biometrics - in the sense of fingerprints that are stored on a chip on the card - however good is precious little here - unless they are all control points equipped with the readers. What in the scenario described in the article (check by bouncers at clubs) is hardly possible, back up or is desirable. Even in the unlikely event of equipment with the readers must willing to explain to visitors, into letting him take the fingerprints by bouncers. I believe that the potential for abuse by the bouncers and security companies greater than the additional gain in safety. Moreover - as the German Chaos Computer Club (CCC) showed in 2004 - the manipulation of a fingerprint reader with simple (financial) resources to accomplish.
Not in sight would be the harm if access would be protected adequately to the data stored on the chip and could be copied digital certificates. Together with (copied) fingerprint someone could be so inpersonifizieren me and cause all sorts of damage. In such a case, to prove his innocence, would be quite a challenge.
This security measure "Biometrics" uses words in this particular case, less than they potentially could cause harm.
