The Sunday News
A NATIONAL University of Science and Technology (Nust) student in the Faculty of Industrial Technology, has designed a digital passport monitoring system aimed at reducing cases of identity fraud at the country’s ports of entry.
Mr Clifford Moyo, who is doing his fifth and final year at the university, designed the prototype of the system in partial fulfilment of his Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Degree in Electronic Engineering.
Using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology the system is able to promptly verify, identify and authenticate passports at the country’s ports of entry.
The system has the same basic features as the system used by authorities at the border posts and airports, but goes further to use a person’s biometric features to verify if the one carrying the passport is the owner and if the person is who he claims to be.
The system, which is being used at the country’s border, tends to rely on the discretion of the official at the port of entry to verify whether the picture on the passport matches the face of the holder, after doing a physical check.
Such manual system gives room for cases of identity fraud as people with identical facial features, like twins, can use the same passport to travel in and out of the country without being detected.
However, the use of biometric features such as fingerprints to authenticate the owner would curb identity theft and fraud, which is what Moyo’s system aims to do.
The system has a facility which enables the Registrar General’s office to create a new passport in which the applicant’s biometric features are captured, which include the owner’s photograph captured by a camera attached to the system and also the owner’s fingerprint captured by a fingerprint scanner also attached to the system.
A template of the fingerprint and facial photo is then stored in the database for authentication.
The system then uses the fingerprint biometric to check if the person holding the passport is the owner of the passport.
That of course is done after the system, using RFID technology, would have first checked if the passport is genuine and it exists in the passports office database.
For example when a passport holder arrives at the country’s port of entry/exit, they present the document to the authorities who would then scan it on the appropriate system’s scan area.
The passport number is captured and is used to check if such a passport exists or not in the passport office database. If the passport does not exist the system indicates.
If the passport exists the system also displays that such a passport exists.
After checking the authenticity of the document, the system allows for verification of the identity of the person carrying the passport by capturing their fingerprint which is compared with the fingerprint template stored against that passport number in the database.
If the captured the fingerprint detail tallies with the database stored fingerprint template the passport verification is passed and authentication success is granted.
The system is also equipped with an algorithm to calculate fines for punishing all those who overstay in the country.
The system’s intelligence enables it to check the date, check the expected date of country exit, and examine the actual date of checking out of the country and then calculate a fine depending on the number of overstayed days.
Nust director of information and public relations, Mr Felix Moyo, applauded the student for coming up with such an enterprising design which he said would be implemented at a higher level to help reduce cases of fraud at the country’s ports of entry and exit.
Moyo’s Passport Monitoring System was exhibited at this year’s edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, and the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe got an opportunity to sample how it works when she visited the Nust stand.
