What you need to know:
- International Civil Aviation Organization receives Kenya’s electronic signature for e-passports
- International Civil Aviation Organization Public Key Directory (ICAO PKD) has information required to authenticate electronic Machine-Readable Travel Documents (eMRTDs) such as ePassport’s.
Immigration Director-General Evelyn Cheluget on Tuesday deposited Kenya’s electronic signature for the e-Passport with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Public Key Directory (PKD) Ceremony in Montreal, Canada
The International Civil Aviation Organization Public Key Directory (ICAO PKD) is a database maintained by the International Civil Aviation Organization which holds keys related to the authentication of e-passport information.
The global agency serves as the central repository for exchanging the information required to authenticate electronic Machine-Readable Travel Documents (eMRTDs) such as ePassport’s.
The security and facilitation advantages of e-Passports are grounded in the presence of an integrated closed-circuit chip which holds information of the holder and electronic security features.
The benefits of e-passport can only be realized when border control points are able to authenticates the chip. If the chip is not authenticated at border control, the e-Passport has little advantage over a traditional, non-electronic passport.
The letter to the newsroom reads;
Authentication of e-passport is the process of validating the authenticity and integrity of an e-Passport by verifying the digital signature on the chip.
To authenticate the e-Passport of a foreign traveler, the receiving State must have access to certain information from the issuing State.
This would require states to exchange information through bilateral agreements. If bilateral agreements were to be used, the volume of information being exchanged would result in a highly complex and ineffective system. In recognition of this complexity, ICAO PKD provided a platform where states upload their own information and download that of other States without going the bilateral way.
Each State issuing an e-Passport establishes a single Country Signing Certification Authority (CSCA) as its national trust point in the context of e-Passports.
Kenya joined ICAO PKD in Dec 2022, and have Up to 15 months from the joining data to have it’s certificate imported.
All the preliminary arrangements have been done and ICAO are ready to receive Kenya for the ceremony on 13th February 2024.
