wzPASS
A free Electronic Passport reading software
What is wzPASS ?
wzPASS is a Windows software that can read and display the content of Electronic Passports (or Biometric Passports), using an inexpensive contactless reader (PC/SC and others).
wzPASS is primarly intended for people wishing to know what's inside their own passport -as it seems impossible to find a public-access reader, at least here in France-. Nevertheless, wzPASS can easily by adapted to set-up a public-access kiosk, where people can check that their passport is actually working, for example after receiving it at town hall.
wzPASS is an open-source software, based on wzMRTD open-source Electronic Passport reader library.
How does it work ?
Passport specifications
The international standard for ePassports has been edicted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) under the name « Machine Readable Travel Document » (MRTD). A lot of countries are now issuing Electronic Passports compliant with the standard, and identified by this pictogram on the cover :
Touchless operation
The ePassports embedds a contactless smartcard. Reader and chips comply with the ISO/IEC 14443 standard for proximity contactless operation (13.56MHz carrier frequency, operating distance < 10cm).
wzPASS firstly establish communication with the card -the contactless reader is a dumb device-, read the whole content of the passport, and display the interesting parts (identity informations and picture of face namely).
MRZ for authentication
To respect holder's privacy, content of ePassports is designed to be protected against such unauthorized reading, or "skimming". This is done through a basic encryption scheme (BAC -Basic Authentication-) where the access key is to be visually read on the passport itself, from the optical Machine Readable Zone (MRZ).
Real-life MRTD reading machines used in real-world for border clearance always include a scanner with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) that automatically reads the MRZ of the passport used for authentication. As an MRZ scanner is really more expensive than a contactless reader, the MRZ shall be entered in wzPASS using the keyboard.
Credits / Thanks
- Sylvain Ferey for his repeated support,
- Stanislas Dourdin, author of an early yet functionnal pre-version,
- Damien Croisot, who provided his own passport for test,
- Oberthur Card System, provider of the Utopians passports,
- Pro-active, my official provider for readers, computers, and coffee.