System Mir Manufacture and issue of passport and visa documents of a new type (biopasports) of HS PVDNP

System Usage Indicators

2023: In Russia, the number of issued passports increased by 11.5% - up to 5.7 million units

In 2023 Russia , the number of issued foreign passports in increased by 11.5% compared to 2022, reaching 5.7 million. This is evidenced by the data on the results of the activities of the units on migration of the territorial bodies MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS of Russia for January - December 2023, announced Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the winter of 2024.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, the increase in the number of issued passports occurred despite the temporary termination of the issuance of new generation documents in February-May 2023. At the same time, there is a significant increase in the issuance of passports with a 5-year validity period - by 91%, to 3.4 million. At the same time, the number of passports issued with a 10-year validity period decreased by 30.9%, amounting to 2.3 million.

The number of issued passports in Russia increased by 11.5%

In addition to the increase in the number of issued passports, in 2023 there was an increase of 21.3% in the number of provided government services for the issuance and replacement of internal passports - from 7.7 million to 9.3 million. This is due to the issuance of the main document certifying the identity of a citizen of the Russian Federation to residents of new constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

In general, the migration units of the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for 2023 provided 62.9 million public services. Among them, more than 17 million services are associated with registration of citizens at the place of stay and at the place of residence within Russia.

The agency also notes an increase in the number of foreign citizens arriving in Russia on a visa basis in order to carry out labor activities - by 42.4%. The largest number of work visas were issued to citizens of China, Vietnam, India and Turkey.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia continues to implement a departmental digital transformation program to improve the mechanisms for providing public services to citizens in electronic form. In 2023, 3.4 million applications for registration and deregistration at the place of stay and place of residence were accepted through information and communication networks, which is 5.4% more than in 2022.^[1]

2022

5.4 million passports issued

MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Russia For 12 months of 2022, more than 5.4 million passports were issued, which exceeds data for the same period in 2021 by 1.5 million.

Accepted 20 thousand documents from residents of Moscow for the registration of biometric passport

Since 2020, more than 20 thousand residents Moscow have submitted documents for obtaining biometric a passport cryptobiocabins using the production of Concern "Automatics" the State Corporation Rostec in public services centers. Such data for February 2022 leads the portal of the mayor of the Moscow government. and more. here

2019: More than 7 million passports issued

More than 7 million foreign passports of the next generation were issued by the Data Processing Center (DPC) of the Mir State Migration and Registration System. This was reported on October 4, 2019 in the State Corporation Rostec. Read more here.

The next generation passports first became available to Russians in 2006. The main page of this document contains a biometric microchip on which fingerprints and a special digital photo of a citizen's face are recorded. The validity period of such a passport is ten years.

2011: Over 4 million biopasports issued

At the end of 2011, 12 million citizens of the Russian Federation have a passport containing an electronic storage medium. According to the data presented in the Federal Migration Service of Russia:

• in 2006, 3,928 new generation passports were issued,
• in 2007 - 126,787,
• in 2008 - 1,484,819,
• in 2009 - 2,886,237,
• in 2010 - 3,359,861,
• in 2011, 4,136,413 biopasports were issued.

"In 2011, the department produced about 5 million foreign passports according to the applications of citizens, and in 2012 this figure reached 5.78 million. The annual increase in passports produced is about 10%, "said Konstantin Romodanovsky, head of the Federal Migration Service of Russia, in January 2013

.

History

2023

Micron received an order for the production of 4 million chips for passports

About 4 million chips for biometric passports were ordered from the Micron plant, and 1.5 million of them are already ready. This was announced on June 1, 2023 by the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Vasily Shpak. Read more here.

Micron has found a replacement for foreign materials for the manufacture of biometric passports

Micron has found a replacement for foreign materials for the manufacture of biometric passports. About this, the general director of the company Gulnara Khasyanova.

"Of course, of course. Everything will be fine, "she said, answering polls whether analogues of foreign materials have been found and whether there really will be no problems with passports of a new sample.

There are Russian manufacturers, we are actively working with them, [although] not everything works out the first time, "Khasyanova added.

She also commented on the sharp demand for a new type of document. According to her, the situation was quite predictable, just the enterprise needs "a little more time to expand production." She noted that the plant is "used to ordering production in a month."

In March 2023, the press service of Micron announced the active work of the plant to resume the supply of chips for foreign passports of a new sample.

Demand growth requires constant development of production and reconfiguration of technical processes. The production and supply of chips for passports is on schedule, the plant is working around the clock, in an enhanced mode, the company said at the time.

Acceptance of applications for the release of new-model passports with an electronic carrier, valid for ten years, was suspended in Russia on February 2, 2023. A month later, information appeared that Gosznak resumed the release of new-model passports as usual. The company denied this information and clarified that it continues to process previously received applications.

In 2022, the Russian Foreign Ministry suspended the issuance of new generation passports for almost a month - from August 26 to September 20. The department explained that the temporary termination of acceptance of applications is associated with technical work. At the same time, citizens of the Russian Federation could still receive a passport for 5 years.^[2]

In Russia, resumed the production of biometric passports with chips

On March 10, 2023, it became known about the resumption of the release of biometric passports. Production takes place in standard mode, but due to the accumulated applications for obtaining documents, the deadline for receiving them can be increased, reports the Telegram channel Baza, citing a source in Goznak.

The information that the issuance of biometric foreign passports is resuming in Russia was confirmed to Izvestia on March 10, 2023 by Goznak.

According to RIA Novosti with reference to the TourDom.ru portal, which, in turn, provides subscriber data for its Telegram channel, in some regions the issuance of biometric passports was resumed at least on March 7, 2023.

In mid-January, an application was submitted in St. Petersburg, and they were already invited for the finished one. Already received in Voronezh on February 25. The documents were handed over after the January holidays, - subscribers share.

Also, the resumption of the process is reported in Moscow, Novosibirsk, Vladikavkaz. According to media reports, the issuance also begins in Tyumen and Yekaterinburg. Documents are received by those who applied at the beginning of the year, as well as in December 2022. The design took at least a month more than they initially expected. Tourists in the Moscow region and Samara continue to wait for notifications from the MPSC. In some cases, travellers cannot wait for an international passport from December 2022.

The new passports are equipped with a unique chip and are therefore biometric. The electronic storage medium built into them contains information about the owner and scans of his fingerprints. The documents of the new sample are designed for 10 years.

For those who need to go abroad as soon as possible, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation recommended issuing a passport for five years when paying the state duty.^[3]

In Russia, the reception of applications for the issuance of foreign passports of a new sample is stopped due to the lack of chips

Since February 2, 2023, Russia has temporarily suspended the acceptance of applications for the release of new-model passports with electronic media. This was announced by the Public services service. At the same time, Goznak named the reason why foreign passports of a new model with a 10-year validity period have not yet been issued in the Russian Federation.

In recent months, Goznak has received an increased volume of applications for the personalization of foreign passports, thereby significantly increasing the need for microcircuits that are embedded in the foreign passport form. Currently, the manufacturer of these microcircuits, JSC Micron, is reconfiguring equipment and optimizing technological processes in order to meet the increased demand for the discussed microcircuits in the future. We expect that after its completion, the rhythm of the production and personalization of foreign passports will be restored within a month, "Goznak said in a statement dated February 2, 2023.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation explained the suspension by "adjusting technical processes to meet the increased demand." The department stressed that the production of chips for electronic passports in Russia was not suspended. Also, the representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade noted that the modernization of the Micron enterprise, which produces electronic components, is already in the process of completion.

Zelax President Sergei Sukhman, in an interview with Forbes, noted that the main problem with the production of chips in Russia is in the complicated logistics of material supplies, while there are no production problems. Interruptions in the production of chips are associated with the supply of necessary materials (chemistry, gases and others), a Forbes source in the microelectronics market agreed.

When replacing materials, the technological process is disrupted, and it takes time to debug it. And hundreds of such materials are used in microelectronic production, "he said.[4]

2019: Rostec began production of cryptobiocabines for issuing passports to the MPSC

On October 18, 2019, Rostec told TAdviser that the Avtomatika Concern had begun manufacturing a batch of cryptobiocabines that would automate the issuance of passports to the MPSC. In accordance with the order of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 988-r of 20.05.2019, Rostelecom was appointed a single provider of solutions and services for the MPSC. Read more here.

2016: Prosecutor General's Office: State buys chips for biopasports with 65% overpayment

The Prosecutor General's Office checked the biopasports chips

As part of the audit of activities Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media State Office of Public Prosecutor , she made comments in November on the procedure for purchasing chips for biometric passports. As follows from the report on the results of the audit of the Prosecutor General's Office at the disposal, questions CNews were raised by the contract of the subordinate Ministry of Communications for Atlas Research and Development Center the purchase of the cryptographic protection means (CIPF) "Chrysolite"^[5]

NTC "Atlas" supplies SKZI "Chrysolite" to the state factory "Goznak," which is engaged in the production of passports, including foreign passports of a new generation with chips. The chips themselves are produced by the Mikron Zelenograd factory.

Atlas chain

"Goznak" chips are not supplied directly. Micron sells chips with the software of a commercial company installed on them - Atlas-Kart CJSC - at a price of 88 rubles. apiece. Atlas-maps "resells them to the Atlas Research and Development Center for 254 rubles. apiece.

This happens in the cancers of contracts between Atlas and Atlas-Kart for the supply of Chrysolite CIPF. The last such contract was concluded at the end of 2015 for a total amount of 640 million rubles.

NTC "Atlas" sells chips to the end consumer "Goznak" for 473 rubles. apiece.

65% overpricing

The Prosecutor General's Office believes that the participation of an intermediary represented by Atlas-Cards in this scheme leads to "an overestimation of the cost of products and an increase in the selling price for Goznak by 65.3%." How exactly the number of 65.3% was obtained is not explained in the audit materials.

"Goznak" complies with the rules of public procurement

The representative of Goznak told CNews that since 2006 the factory has been purchasing from the Atlas Research and Development Center an incenta - a plastic material with an antenna, a microcircuit and a hinged material designed to sew a plastic page into a passport book.

"Our company carries out the purchase of incents using open procurement procedures," the factory representative assured. As for the cost structure of Goznak suppliers, the factory does not control them.

2015: To obtain a biometric passport, citizens of the Russian Federation must be fingerprinted

Since January 1, 2015, Russian citizens must submit fingerprints when submitting documents for a 10-year biometric passport, the press service of the FMS of the Russian Federation told Interfax.

"In order to strengthen the degree of protection of documents when a citizen of the Russian Federation submits an application for a passport, papillary patterns of his index fingers are subject to scanning. This applies to all citizens, starting from the age of 12, "the FMS

said.

The department said that as part of a pilot project in Moscow, the Moscow region and St. Petersburg, about 27 thousand ten-year foreign passports with fingerprints were issued.

The press service of the FMS said that if desired, Russian citizens will be able to receive the so-called "old" five-year passports, for this it is not necessary to take fingerprints.

Earlier, the sites of the regional departments of the FMS reported that from January 1, the registration of domestic and foreign passports is becoming more expensive. In particular, the registration of an old-style foreign passport for adults rises in price from 1 thousand to 2 thousand rubles. At the same time, the registration of a new generation passport for 10 years is becoming more expensive by 40% - from 2.5 to 3.5 thousand rubles. A biometric passport for a child under 14 now costs 1.5 thousand rubles. instead of 1.2 thousand The old-style passport for children has more than tripled in price: from 300 rubles to 1 thousand.

2013: Fingerprints. Pilot project

Since June 1, 2013, the FMS of Russia has been launching a project in pilot mode to issue new generation foreign biometric passports with fingerprints of citizens. This was announced to journalists on January 21, 2013 at a press conference by the head of the department Konstantin Romodanovsky.

Romodanovsky said that passports with an additional parameter will not differ from other passports of a new generation, both in terms of validity - 10 years - and in terms of state duty. "We will move on to replicating the system when we make sure that it is functional and safe," he said.

"The pilot zones will be Moscow and the region, as well as St. Petersburg," said Konstantin Romodanovsky.

The press service of the FMS of Russia TAdviser said that the project will be carried out entirely on a voluntary basis by citizens. The ministry found it difficult to say about the timing of the pilot project. "It all depends on how the pilot goes," TAdviser replied to the FMS of Russia.

A source close to Micron, who already supplies Goznak with domestic chips for foreign passports, told TAdviser that microchips of the same family as those already in use can participate in this project. "The memory of the chip is enough to write this data. If necessary, and after the appropriate tests, it will be possible to use the next level of products, "a source told TAdviser.

The cost of one chip for the ongoing Goznak project for the transition to domestic products is about 100 rubles. The foreign analogue used earlier from NXP costs about 160 rubles.

"By June 1, the state

must conduct all tests of this project in order to enable citizens to enter additional data into a foreign passport," a TAdviser source said. - These issues should be dealt with by a working group created under the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications. Its first meeting is expected in the near future. " Micron, for its part, is ready to supply chips for this project in the right time

.

The pilot project will last at least until the end of 2013. "Such projects cannot be called fast. Testing of the Micron chip lasted about two years: security, fault tolerance and other parameters were tested, "he continued. "Therefore, it is impossible to argue that everything will be fast."

According to another source close to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which oversees the production of chips, "there is a decree of the President of the Russian Federation on the addition of prints, and technical requirements from the integrator of the project FSUE NII Voskhod, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Communications, have not yet been provided. "This puts manufacturers in an uncertain situation, since overestimated memory requirements for additional biometric information can lead not only to long re-tests, but also to refinement of the chip," he told TAdviser. "Such a turn of events could return the project to replace the imported chip with the Russian one again to zero

."

2012: Domestic microchips for passports

At the end of December 2012, Mikron won the Goznak competition for the supply of microchips for passport and visa documents (new generation foreign passports). Micron will supply about 3.5 million microchips during 2013. The company was the first to develop, bring to international standards and internal requirements of Russia the relevant software. According to the Minister of Communications and Mass Media Nikolai Nikiforov, domestic microcircuits will gradually supplant foreign analogues in this and other markets.

According to the minister, two more Russian companies are engaged in the development of chips, which in the future will also be able to supply their products for Goznak. "This market can be competitive," he said.

In addition to Micron, Angstrom and Atlas maps are engaged in the development of domestic chips. As the head of corporate communications told TAdviser Group Angstrom Alexey Dianov, in January 2013, the company is at the final stage of obtaining a certificate for its microchips in the FSB. "Once the certificate is received, we also plan to supply our products to Goznak," he said. Learn more here.

2011

In November 2011, the press secretary of the Federal Migration Service (FMS) Zalina Kornilova said that passports of a new sample, in the electronic storage medium of which digitized fingerprints of their owners will be entered, will appear in Russia in 2012. According to Kornilova, the department expects to "work out technological processes" related to the use of additional biometric characteristics in passports of a new sample by the end of 2011.

Biometric passports with fingerprints will be issued en masse, presumably already in 2013, said Alexander Aksenov, head of the department for organizing visa and registration work of the FMS. "Two types of passports will remain: electronic passports and new generation electronic passports. All previously issued passports will be valid until the expiration date, "he stressed

.

When issuing the latest passport, it is supposed to scan two fingerprints of the owner's index fingers, after which the information will be recorded in the document chip, Aksenov said. The presence of fingerprints in the passport will allow you to most accurately identify the identity of its owner, explained Aksenov.

In order for information about the fingerprints of citizens to appear in the chips of biometric passports, it is necessary to amend the legislation, said the director of the FMS Konstantin Romodanovsky. Romodanovsky noted that there are also "nuances related to the storage of information." "Today we are only talking about the mechanism for making passports with fingerprints, whether the chip has enough memory to store new parameters, whether this information will be quickly read," the head of the department said.

Romodanovsky published the following statistics: in 2010, 5.852 million passports were issued, of which 3.327 million were new generation passports (biometric). Since the beginning of the year, 4.356 million passports have been issued, of which 3.014 million are biometric. In Moscow, out of 700 thousand passports issued, about 500 thousand are of a new model, he added. The boom in the registration of passports continues from March to July, Romodanovsky noted. He also stated that the experimental issuance of passports with fingerprints could begin by the end of 2011.

The next cycle of work on the creation and development of segments of the state system for the manufacture, registration and control of new generation passport and visa documents (HS PVDNP) has been completed.

The work was carried out by the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Voskhod in the interests of improving the national security of the Russian Federation and ensuring the possibility of implementing a visa-free regime for crossing the state border by citizens of the Russian Federation and the European Union.

The main goals of the work were determined based on the decisions of the President of the Russian Federation and plans approved by the Government of Russia, and included the following areas of research and work:

• improvement of the regulatory legal framework of the Russian Federation regulating the sphere of circulation of new generation passport and visa documents taking into account international experience;
• improving the reliability of Russian personal documents to standards adopted by the international community, including in order to combat terrorism; improving control of such documents when crossing the state border of the Russian Federation;
• expanding the list of documents containing an electronic storage medium and biometric data of their owners, supplementing it with a refugee travel document and a residence permit for a stateless person;
• modernization of the system in order to introduce additional biometric characteristics of their owners into the passport and visa documents of a new generation, including fingerprints;
• improving the fault tolerance of critical HS HSSS nodes, creating a central interdepartmental database of issued foreign passports;
• interfacing HS PVDNP with the portal of public services and other systems, for example, such as the state information system of migration accounting (GISMU).

Interface with other government systems

In 2011, for the first time, software and hardware solutions and the necessary components were developed for interfacing the MRDC data center with other state systems.

Direct bilateral interaction of the PVDNP HS with the State Migration Accounting System (GISMU) is provided, and through the interdepartmental electronic interaction system (SMEV) - with the portal of state and municipal services (EPGU) and the Federal Treasury (FC).

Information protection

In 2011, the necessary measures and work were carried out to ensure the protection of information in the HS PVDNP, including allowing interaction with the Directory of Public Keys of the countries included in the ICAO infrastructure.

Threat models and intruder models have been updated, measures and documents have been developed to improve the system of electronic digital signature certification centers.

The Cryptographic Security Authority was modernized in order to expand its functionality, the secure communication network is equipped with means of remote key change.

System fault tolerance

In 2011, the creation of fault-tolerant system components was completed, which made it possible in 2012 to ensure its disaster resistance. This is especially important given the social status of the system and the round-the-clock mode of its operation.

The MRDC equipment has been upgraded, which allows several times to increase its speed and capabilities for data processing and storage. The supplied equipment and software is integrated into a single MRDC complex. The stand of the Chief Designer of the PVDNP PA was modernized.

Measures have been taken to form the structure of the Central Database of the HS PVDNP, which will make it possible to maintain a single accounting of new generation documents issued by various departments. Preparatory work was carried out and the transfer of these departmental segments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and the Ministry of Defense of Russia to the Central Base began.

Introduction of biometric technologies

In 2011, a test check was carried out on the functioning of the entire technological cycle for the manufacture, execution and control of documents containing additional biometric characteristics of their owners. In FSUE "Goznak" made real samples of such documents. Samples of new documents successfully passed control on the layout of a passport control cabin equipped with special equipment at the checkpoint across the state border of the Russian Federation.

Challenges and prospects

Russian biometric passports did not reach generally recognized world standards. To bring them into line, it will be necessary to amend the legislation - to prescribe the possibility of introducing additional biometric characteristics: fingerprints and iris images.

"There is an international organization ICAO that regulates the market for machine-readable documents. We hope that in the near future we will be able to agree with her, and our biometric passport will be generally accepted on a global scale, "Deputy Minister of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation Oleg Dukhovnitsky said in December 2011 and added that it is planned to resolve this issue in 2012

.

As of December 2011, the passport chip contains information about the owner:

• last name,
• name,
• patronymic and
• digital 2D photography, and
• information about the date and place of issue of the document.

The FMS of the Russian Federation has prepared a draft law on amending the law "On Entry and Exit." It is being discussed in the government and is expected to be submitted to the State Duma in the fall of 2012.

"In order for passports to be" read "abroad, ICAO has developed international norms that have already been implemented in more than 100 countries. These standards provide that the chip records information on two fingers of choice, most countries have chosen the index finger, since it is convenient to present it when passing border control. Russia also followed this path: changes are being prepared to the legislative act, which will provide that it will be the two index fingers that will be removed when applying for a passport, "said Sergei Chekunkov, head of the scientific and technical department of biometric technologies and special equipment at the Voskhod Research Institute. He also said that fingerprints will only be stored during the manufacture of the passport, "uploaded" to the document chip, and then the data will be deleted

.

ICAO standards also provide for the recording of information on the chip about the face and iris of the eye of the document owner. In this case, the skin of the eye can become a replacement for fingerprints, or these data can be used together.

"A

number of countries... The UK, the Arab Emirates in test mode use the iris of the eye. Since this is not legally defined in our country, we, as a research institute, are working on such a technical possibility for the future. If such a decision is made by law, we will be ready to use this technology, "S. Chekunkov added

.

Experiments will be conducted on refugees

According to O. Dukhovnitsky, the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media will test the introduction of fingerprints and iris images on the identity cards of stateless persons and travel documents of refugees in the pilot zone, which will be created in St. Petersburg. According to the deputy minister, based on the results of testing, a decision will be made whether to apply additional biometric characteristics in passports.

"The work of the pilot zone will be the first stage, the" testing "of new technologies on identification documents with a small circulation and issued only to foreign citizens, which may allow in the future to switch to the introduction of this biometrics in Russian passports. After the work of the pilot zone, we will be ready to discuss the issue: enter or not enter these biometric characteristics into the current passport, "said O. Dukhovnitsky

.

Since 2004, the presence of a biometric passport or refugee travel document containing biometric data is mandatory for countries that have joined the visa-free program. "In connection with the launch of migration processes in the format of the Customs Union and the Unified Economic Space of Russia, it is necessary to prepare technological solutions for creating a visa-free space similar to Schengen, introducing uniform principles of border crossing, including documents containing additional biometric parameters," said O. Dukhovnitsky.

At the same time, the deputy minister stressed that today's biometric passport is legitimate and any citizen, having this document, can go to any country in the world. He also explained that information about the inconsistency of the Russian passport with international standards refers only to legal documents.

"This concerns

the documentary solution of the issue, technically nothing will have to be changed, everything is fixed and regulated," explained O. Dukhovnitsky. The Deputy Minister of Communications also noted that ordinary passports without biometrics are not planned to be withdrawn from circulation - a citizen will have a choice of which passport to issue.

Photo annealing with a plastic laser

In Russia, unlike other countries, black and white are used - and in new biometric passports gray - photographs. It turns out it's about security. The fact is that the Russian passport is not printed on an ordinary printer: the photo and passport data are burned out by a laser on a plastic page.

"According to the statistics of the border service, up to 80% of passport fakes at the border crossing were associated with the transfer of the photo," S. Chekunkov explained. "Therefore, it was decided that a plastic page will be used in the Russian passport, on which a photo and text are burned out with a laser, which practically excludes the possibility of pasting the photo."

In the documents of the old model, photography was necessary for border service specialists to "compare" the data.

"Now a color photo is read from the chip, which is displayed on the screen, and it is easier for the border guard to identify a citizen by color photo. Therefore, a gray photo is needed in order to protect the document itself when you initially look at it. And in addition, identification is already carried out by the image on the screen, "said S. Chekunkov

.

Cross the border in 15 seconds

A full-fledged biometric passport in the future should make life easier for travelers. Frankfurt am Main Airport successfully operates automated cabin equipment. Passing passport control through them takes 15 seconds. The passenger presents his passport, places his finger and automatics compares the data. If they coincide, and the passenger is not on the control lists (overdue fines, claims of bailiffs), the booth opens, and he goes without passing the border guard.

According to S. Chekunkov, such equipment is also being tested in Russia - the cabin is installed in Sheremetvo. However, so far they have achieved an indicator of 1.5-2 minutes.

"We will aim for 15 seconds. While we are testing, we choose a hardware manufacturer, program code, technologies to reduce time. In April 2012, we will conduct pilot operation, by the end of next year all procedures related to testing, debugging will be completed, and this technology will be adopted, "S. Chekunkov said. It is planned that the technology will be implemented in 2013

.

About 11 million biometric passports were issued in Russia, more than 300 million in the European Union, and about 60% of passports in the world are electronic.

2010

Accident

On August 12, 2010, a person close to the Ministry of Internal Affairs told about a failure in the system for issuing biometric passports and was confirmed by representatives of the Federal Migration Service (FMS) and Voskhod. According to Interfax, a system failure led to the accumulation of about 140,000 unprocessed applications in it, and there is a risk of data loss. According to an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the cause of the failure is an accident in the cooling system in the premises of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Voskhod, there were servers serving the issuance of passports. The hose with condensate from the air conditioner burst and water spilled on the servers, which failed, explains the source of Vedomosti. According to the Voskhod Research Institute, air conditioners are in order, and the equipment simply overheated.

The first deputy director of the FMS, Mikhail Turkin, told Interfax that passports have not been issued for a week. Turkin says that he has repeatedly warned the Ministry of Communications and Voskhod about the need to duplicate the passport issuance system. Voskhod did not allocate money for the creation of data centers with servers on which a backup copy of the system would be stored, a person close to Voskhod knows. The data did not disappear, their copies were stored in Goznak, and passports will be issued on time (month), the Interior Ministry officer knows, and who urgently needs a passport will be given an old model. The representative of Voskhod confirms that the data has been preserved, the passport issuance system will work before the end of the week. The representative of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications says that the problems in the FMS data processing center have been eliminated, and the full passport system will work in 3-5 days.

The state spent 8 billion rubles on the creation of a system of biometric passports. An employee of a large telecom operator says that equipment supporting such a system could cost $3-4 million. In data centers, the equipment is located in vertical racks of 20-40 servers, a condensate leak can disable the entire rack, says Pavel Vasiliev, technical director of Hosting Community, the damage from the loss of one rack is tens of thousands of dollars. For critical information processing systems, it is necessary to build full redundancy systems, they must be posted to different data centers and connected to different Internet providers, Vasiliev continues.

In 2009, carried away by the confrontation with the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, Voskhod did not create a duplicate system for issuing passports, a person close to one of the arguing parties complains.

Mikhail Turkin, deputy head of the FMS, accused Voskhod and the Ministry of Communications of all sins. Moreover, the FMS insists that the state of emergency at Voskhod has turned into a system, and this is due, first of all, to the update of the leadership of the Research Institute, which was carried out several months ago by the Ministry of Communications. Voskhod itself recognizes the presence of some problems after the change of director, but assures that they will be resolved in the very near future.

After the August accident, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications came up with an initiative to increase the capacity of data centers and create an interdepartmental reserve center.

In September 2010, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications announced an open tender for the launch of the first stage of the interdepartmental backup data processing center (MRDPC) and the revision of special software ( SPO) for issuing, issuing, replacing and recording issued passports of a citizen of the Russian Federation. The total cost of all work under the state contract, which is required to be completed by December 15, 2010, is estimated at 60 million rubles. The source of financing for the work is the federal budget.

Document Recognition Application Integration

In October 2010, it became known that the Cognitive Technologies solution for recognizing identity documents was integrated into the state automated system for the manufacture, registration and control of new generation passport and visa documents (GAS PVD NP, or biopasports system). The project was implemented jointly with the developer of the system - FSUE NII Voskhod. As part of the project, this solution is called Cognitive Forms Center, and the Cognitive Passport product is promoted on its basis in the mass market.

In the course of work on the project, the task arose of reconciling the data of the first page of the issued new generation passport and MRZ with the data contained in the chip: photo, full name, passport number, date of birth, gender, date of issue and expiration date. As a result, the task was set to reduce the time for data reconciliation and exclude cases of data mismatch.

To obtain the highest possible image quality of useful text information contained in the document, Cognitive Technologies specialists have developed a technology for suppressing graphic "noise" (stamp background elements, passport bends, laminar film highlights, etc.) that inevitably occur during document scanning. The technology works in a similar way to the principles inherent in the human brain - automatically ignoring noise and perceiving only the necessary information, Cognitive Technologies explained. Work can also be carried out with photocopies of documents that can be processed in the same stream with the originals, and PullOut technology allows you to enter several documents in one pass of the scanner, while automatically recognizing the type of document.

The recognized data is subjected to logical checks, and then transferred to the information system of the organization. In this case, the photo, signature and symbol of the scanned document can be saved as separate files.

2009: Contractor selection scandal

The competition for servicing the interdepartmental segment of the system for the manufacture and issuance of passport and visa documents of a new type (HS PVDNP) was held on July 16, 2009 and ended in a scandal. The winners were recognized Open technology 98 as "," where in 2001-2005 he worked as deputy. Minister Dmitry Severov of Communications and Mass Media. NII Rising"," which began to develop and maintain the biopasport system back in 2005, refused to support it until September, when a new contractor was supposed to start the case, and appealed the results of the competition to the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS). A week later, the FAS canceled these results, revealing violations in competitive conditions.

At the same time, Ilya Ponomarev, a State Duma deputy and a member of the committee on information policy, information technologies and communications, turned to the Prosecutor General's Office. He decided that the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications violated the law by placing an order for servicing the biopasport system. On July 24, 2009, senior assistant to the Prosecutor General Vyacheslav Kroshkin notified Ponomarev that his appeal was "accepted for production" and an audit was "organized" on it.

This is not the first time Kroshkin has been interested in communications and information technology. In October 2006 , at the request of other deputies, he checked the activities of the Bermuda IPOC Foundation, which for five years unsuccessfully tried to sue 25.1% of Megafon from Alpha Groups. Then Kroshkin said that IPOC's activities in Russia are "legal." The Zurich arbitration came to the opposite conclusion five months before: he considered the beneficiary of IPOC "alleged witness No. 7," which was guessed by the then Minister of Communications Leonid Reiman (he always denied the connection with IPOC).

Reiman, who heads the interdepartmental working group on the introduction of new generation passport and visa documents, also participated in the conflict that arose after the biopasport competition. On July 31, he, as well as Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliev, head of the Federal Migration Service Konstantin Romodanovsky and FSB director Alexander Bortnikov, signed a letter addressed to Dmitry Medvedev, in which they proposed to determine FSUE Voskhod Research Institute as the state operator of software and technical complexes of the interdepartmental segment of the biopasport processing system. Already on August 1, the president approved this proposal, appointing Voskhod as the only operator of the system without a competition.

Nevertheless, the Prosecutor General's Office continues to study the conditions of the competition, the results of which were canceled. On August 19, Assistant Prosecutor General Oleg Openyshev told Deputy Ponomarev that the check on his appeal was "not completed" and its deadline was "extended" (Vedomosti has a copy). The representative of the prosecutor's office was familiarized with the tender documentation, says Lashkina from the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications. The ministry has not yet received any documents based on the results of this meeting.

See also

• State system of migration and registration accounting (GS Mir)
• Interdepartmental Backup Data Center (MDC)

• Electronic passport of a citizen of Russia
• Biometric passport of Russia
• System for the manufacture and issue of passport and visa documents of a new type (biopasports)
• Mir System - Release of New Type Passports (HS PVDNP)
• Information Security - Biometric Identification
• Biometrics and Border Control
• Electronic Military ID
• Electronic passport of the facility
• Electronic Passport (Rostec)
• Systems of electronic passports of vehicles in the countries of the Customs Union

• Electronic passport of a Finnish citizen
• Estonian e-citizenshipID card in Estonia
• ID card in Uzbekistan
• Digital ID of Malaysia
• Digitalization of the British Passport Office (Her Majesty's Passport Office, HMPO)

Notes