Identity theft and ID counterfeiting are among the fastest growing types of crime, especially in highly industrialized countries. According to FBI statistics, it is the fastest growing crime in USA. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. The article highlight the issues related to document counterfeiting and the importance of hologram in document protection.

1. Cover Story
The Holography Times
Vol. 7, Issue 22
Identity document:
challenges and solutions
By C S Jeena
With today’s technology, document can be easily duplicated and altered.
Document tampering occurs frequently, however, inexpensive color
copiers, scanners, and PC’s have made duplication easy and readily
available. This is happening at an alarming rate, and every business is
vulnerable. In most cases, the targets are government-issued documents
such as passports, driver’s licenses, or national ID cards.
The article highlight the issues related to document counterfeiting and the
importance of hologram in document protection.
Identity documents:
Human beings need some
form of identity document. An
identity document tells a story
about the holder on the subject
of the document. The objective
is to enable other person to
understand more about the
subject and to identify them.
Above all, an identity document
needs to be trustworthy. An
identity document (also called a
piece of identification or ID, or
colloquially as one’s ‘papers’)
is any document which may
be used to verify aspects of a
person’s personal identity. If
issued in the form of a small,
mostly standard-sized card, it is
usually called an identity card
(IC). Countries which do not have
formal identity documents may
require informal documents.
It could be an identity card or
travel documents.
Why have ID’s
In the middle age when people
tend to live in clusters within
village or tribes, personal
documentation
was
not
considered important at all.
Nevertheless, many centuries
ago identification tokens were
8
in forms of animal skin, gems
and stone to seals introduced
to
enable
for
example
representatives of the King
travelling
for
neighbouring
States. Eventually, paper identity
documents emerged as evidence
of someone’s identity, and more
in particular of the bearer’s
position, with the request to
grant safe passage to the bearer.
Mostly, these documents served
as a status symbol for the
privileged rather than a form of
identification.
The need for reliable identity
documents only became imminent
when travel started to become
more popular. The need for proper
identity management became
more obvious and compelling
during World War I, when people
started to realize the need to
establish the identity of everybody
who entered the fighting zone.
In 1920, the League of Nations
organized
an
international
conference in order to work out
common formats for passports
and visa, including the layout,
content and validity. Unfortunately,
the effort was unsuccessful, due to
lack of political will.
www.homai.org

2. Cover Story
The Holography Times
Vol. 7, Issue 22
Purpose of the identity
document
An identity document has a
number of purposes;
-
“The Federal Trade Commission
estimates that as many as 9
million Americans have their
identities stolen each year.”
-
Proof of identity: These days,
persons are asked to prove
their identity when dealing
with a Bank, entering a
restricted area or completing
an important transactions
such as buying a house etc.
etc. They have no need for
a travel document and only
need a trustworthy identity
document for domestic use.
For example an identity card,
PAN Card, driving license,
social security card, AADHAR
card or medicare card.
Facilitation of travel: A
trustworthy
identification
document
facilitates
international travel because
it provides a proven means
for identification purpose
and guarantees the return of
the bearer to a designated
place.
conditions of stay laid down by
the immigration authorities of
the receiving country or region.
Domestic Document: These
type of document are mainly
intended for various purpose
within the country of origin. Such
as Permanent Account Number
(PAN Card), Driving License,
Voter ID card etc. etc.
Challenges concerning
identity documents
Due to their importance, identity
documents are a continuous
subject of fraudulent and
criminal activities. These include
forged and false documents, false
identity and impersonation and
human trafficking.
i.
Forged
and
false
documents: Identity theft
and ID counterfeiting are
among the fastest growing
types of crime, especially
in highly industrialized
countries. According to FBI
statistics, it is the fastest
growing crime in USA. The
Federal Trade Commission
estimates that as many as
9 million Americans have
their identities stolen each
year. Indeed, just to highlight
the size of the problem, in
April 2012 the European
Parliament estimated that
of the 6.5 million bio-metric
passports in circulation in
France between 500,000
and one million are ‘false’
having been obtained using
counterfeit
documents.
In most cases, the targets
are government - issued
documents
such
as
passports, driver’s licenses,
or national ID cards.
ii.
How ID are copied/
faked: According to various
Organization,
common
examples of forged and false
documents include;
-
Counterfeit
identity
documents that emulate the
Proof of Nationality: A
travel document not only
certified the nationality of
the holder, but also indicates
whether the holder has the
right to return to the issuing
country or his place of
domicile, through a visa label
or a stamp in the document.
Common identity
documents
An identity card is a generic term
for various cards types such as
social security cards, citizen’s
cards, resident cards and
driving licenses. These can be
classified into Travel Document
or Document used for Domestic
purpose.
Travel
Documents:
Travel
document
are
documents
intended for international travel,
such as passports and certificates
of identity, normally come in the
shape of a booklet which can
include a visa sticker and the
www.homai.org
9

3. Cover Story
The Holography Times
Vol. 7, Issue 22
features and characteristic
of valid IDs issued by
Government. For example,
counterfeit driver license
with an unexpired date.
-
-
“Terrorist group and homegrown
extremists have used counterfeit
ID’s to rent cars and trucks,
and to buy chemicals or certain
fertilizers to derive high potency
explosive components. Example
includes 11 September 2001 in
USA and 26 November 2008 in
Mumbai (India).”
Valid identity documents,
usually issued in the name of
a fictitious or stolen identity,
obtained through fraudulent
means.
Valid identity documents
have been altered after
issuance to change a name,
photo image, age, or other
biographic descriptor.
Damaged caused by the
duplicate/copies/fake
IDs:
The fake ID can impact National
security, public safety and the
Economy. While counterfeited
ID use for financial gain
harmed common consumer,
the counterfeited Government
ID’s can be a serious threat to
national security and economy.
Terrorist group and homegrown
extremists have used counterfeit
ID’s to rent cars and trucks,
and to buy chemicals or certain
fertilizers to derive high potency
explosive components. Example
includes 11 September 2001 in
USA and 26 November 2008 in
Mumbai (India).
What can be done?
i. Common
guidelines
for
stronger
card
security: With the lack of
consistent standards across
identification
document,
it is often difficult to give
reasonable assurance of a
given document authenticity.
Improving the security of
identity documents is a matter
of urgent national security.
Most Identity Document
are not designed as secure
documents, and therefore are
no uniform security standards
in place to assist the public
and law enforcement in
the recognition of genuine
10
versus counterfeit identity
documents.
As an essential step, Government
should issue a standard basic
guidelines
for
document
protection security such as;
-
All document must be
incorporated with overt,
covert and forensic security
features;
-
A combination of security
features with other level 2
and level 3 security features to
form a layered approach. (See
table)
-
Specialised and secure card
production materials designed
to prevent counterfeiting and
should be limited to access
and costly to obtain.
-
Use of technology that does
more than verify a bar code.
ID readers must be able to
verify security features as well
as bar codes digitally and nondigitally.
ii. Training for enforcement
officials: Officials involved
in
security
of
various
premises including Army
Personnel and Local Police
should become trained in
basic methods of identity
document authentication, and
have tools available to assist
in differentiating fake IDs
from valid IDs. For example
reference guides to State
Licenses are essential tools for
authentication, as counterfeit
driver licenses are most
often used in States other
than the State from which the
document is counterfeited.
Hologram security:
There are many security features
that can be applied to documents,
both overt and covert and
hologram are among one of the
most effective authentication
measures in the battle against
document
counterfeiting.
www.homai.org

4. Cover Story
The Holography Times
Vol. 7, Issue 22
Level
Feature
Purpose for usage
1
Overt (visible with naked eyes)
- a visible “public recognition feature”
- Little or no training and no device required.
- Examples such as hologram, optical variable
ink, paper watermark etc.
2
Covert (non-visible with eyes)
- Hidden features.
- Requires some training and simple devide to validate.
- Examples such as UV-fluorescence, micro-text etc.
3
Forensic
- Deeply hidden features.
- Requires specialist knowledge and equipment to validate.
- Examples such as various proprietary taggants, etc.
Table: The use of security features levels
The role of a hologram on a
passport and other identity
documents is principally to
shield against the forgery of
the photograph and personal
data, otherwise known as the
‘variable information’. However,
the ability of the hologram to
provide effective protection lies
in the continuous innovation,
invention and evolution of
holographic techniques. Both
optical effects and material
science techniques have created
authentication devices that are
easily recognised yet difficult
to copy accurately. They can
be safely integrated within the
production process and stand up
to the rigorous demands of being
in use for a period of anything
up to ten years. According to Mr.
Luv D Shriram,General Secretary
& Treasurer (HoMAI), “Security
hologram was used in document
protection because it provides
the best visual authentication.
Electronic
authentication
is not possible everywhere
especially in remote areas so it
generate a requirement of an
instant visual authentication
like a security hologram with
advanced levels of security
features for authentication (One
such exampleis Visa / Master
Card which is continuously
www.homai.org
using security hologram as overt
feature since1983).
Conclusion
With the lack of consistent
standards across identification
document, it is often difficult
to give reasonable assurance of
a given document authenticity.
Improving the security of
identity documents is a matter
of urgent national security.
Most Identity Document are not
designed as secure documents,
and therefore are no uniform
security standards in place
to assist the public and law
enforcement in the recognition
of genuine versus counterfeit
identity documents.
Governments and Organizations
should
understand
that
counterfeiters will attempt to
counterfeit the document if it is
least secure document. Therefore,
we request that maximum
security features recommended
by Various Organization should
be implemented for the benefits
of public. These security features
must be practical for document
issuers to implement, easy for the
public to recognize and provide
specific identity features for
law enforcement and forensic
investigators.
11