ISO 19794-5 parser completed

The next milestone of the libmrtd project, a ISO/IEC 19794-5 parser. ISO/IEC 19794-5 is titled "Biometric Data Interchange Formats - Part 5: Face Image Data" and provides an international standard for facial images and related information (such as angle of the face, MPEG4 feature animation point, encoded information about medical glasses, eye patches, etc.).

Using this parser it is possible to extract all the image metadata plus the JPEG image itself from DataGroup2 of an ePassport. I've tested it with two passport samples from different vendors, and it works fine.

The next milestone are cryptographic routines for checking the document signature (Passive Authentication) and Active Authentication. Also, Basic Access Control needs a lot of testing.

Big Brother Awards 2005

Today, the sixth "Oscar awards for data leeches" will be awarded. The BBA is a "negative award" or "anti award" for persons, organizations, companies, government agencies that disrespect civil liberties, data protection and privacy.

I've always been a big fan of those awards (which are now even awarded in a number of countries outside of Germany, too). They provide an excellent opportunity to publicly point at (and rant about) those who further restrict the [digital] freedom of individuals.

This year I'm going to be present at the ceremony for the first time.