Partners beyond EES
Why secunet?
As EES specialists, we are familiar with the specific requirements of border control down to the last detail. Thanks to our 25 years of project experience, we have mastered meshing processes and technologies. Our team of experts offers excellent, well-founded consulting services and suitable solutions.
Our secunet border gears product portfolio stands for maximum security, and is 100% EES-ready, modular and strictly standard-compliant. Installed as a partial or complete solution, the components fit seamlessly into any existing structure and forms a long-lasting border infrastructure.
Our solutions are constantly evolving to provide the best technology. All components are of reliable high quality "Made in Germany". As a result, border authorities and airport operators are optimally prepared for all future requirements.
secunet's technology ensures that border controls at Czech international airports, including Václav Havel Airport in Prague, remain fast, easy and secure even after the introduction of the EES.
The Czech Border Police has decided to execute an EES pilot phase even before the connection to the productive EES Central System (CS-EES) is established. For this purpose, an EES simulator will be used that has already been implemented. Due to the pilot operation the Czech Republic is a pioneer in the context of EES. “We are looking forward to tackling EiO well prepared together with our partner secunet,” says col. Petr Malovec, Deputy director at the Czech Border Police.
In cooperation with our partner SSARM, we made Bulgaria's air borders fit for the EES. Our easygates, easykiosks and easytower significantly simplify the border control processes at Bulgaria's three busiest airports: Sofia, Varna and Burgas.
The easygates have facial and fingerprint verification in use. EU passengers can thus cross the borders automatically and more quickly. secunet easykiosk systems enable travelers from third countries to pre-enroll their biometric data independently. At the stationary border control desks, secunet easytowers and fingerprint scanners also support the biometric capture. All technical components were adapted to the airport-specific environment as well as individual customer requirements.
We are modernizing Estonia's border controls: Our easygates accelerate passenger processing at Tallinn Airport and Narva land border, while secunet biomiddle connects mobile, stationary and automated border control as the central middleware. Our PKI solution, secunet eID PKI Suite, ensures comprehensive security for document control with its sophisticated certificate management.
“secunet biomiddle is an exceptional product for building state level document verification and biometric enrolment solutions. SMIT got great support and all problems were solved just-in-time," says Rein Süld, IT and Development Centre, Ministry of the Interior (SMIT).
“The project to implement EES-compliant overall solution in Bulgaria together with our partner secunet was a great success. Working closely together, we delivered one of the leading EES-enabled systems (...)”
Fit for the future with EES: secunet border gears
Premium security from the bottom up
The secunet easygate proves itself every day at many European airports and sets the highest standards in document authentication and biometric liveness detection – along with a superb performance: in just a few seconds, travelers can cross the border by themselves. Like all secunet border gears components, it is designed to meet the requirements of sovereign use and public sector applications, thanks to the latest morphing attack detection algorithms, it is also protected against the newest attack scenarios.
Speed is not rocket science
An improved, efficient and nearly seamless passenger flow through automated processes: This is what secunet easykiosk stands for, as the ideal complement to secunet easygate. The self-service kiosk absorbs the additional workload caused by the EES just as easily as it does the increased passenger volumes. With it, travelers can independently pre-register their data for border control purposes. It can be used practically anywhere in the world and thanks to its modularity, automated processes can be flexibly defined.
Facial images in record time
secunet easytower ensures fast and high-quality facial image acquisition. The height-adjustable camera, the built-in feedback screen and the additional user guidance ideally support persons in their facial image. Flexibly mountable in any conceivable environments, the easytower always delivers reliably the best results - regardless of the external environmental conditions. secunet easytower completes the trio of easygate and easykiosk.
Keeping the dream team together
While the middleware secunet biomiddle operates in the background, the border control application secunet bocoa pulls everything together on the frontend: it communicates quickly and securely with the eGates, kiosks and all necessary background systems and police databases. secunet bocoa provides all relevant results of document verification and identity checks at a glance to on the devices of the border control officers.
These countries rely on secunet technology
What are the objectives of the EES?
- Modernize and increase the quality and efficiency of border controls in Europe.
- Facilitate border crossing for all third-country nationals
- Supporting EU member states in dealing with steadily growing numbers of passengers - without having to deploy additional border guards
- Entry and exit will become more transparent, making the external borders as a whole more secure
- It will be easier for European nations:
- Detect overstayers
- prevent illegal entries
- Combat document and identity fraud
- Protect themselves more effectively against terrorism and organized crime
When will the EES start operating?
The EES is currently expected to be operational in 2025.
Which travelers are affected by the EES?
Visa-obligated and visa-exempt third-country nationals traveling to the Schengen area.
What data will be stored?
Stored are:
- 4 fingerprints
- Facial image
- Date and place of entry and exit
- Identity details and other information from the travel document
Each data record resembles an electronic stamp; this eliminates the previous manual stamping process.
How long will the data be stored and who will have access to the data?
The data is usually stored for 3 years. In the case of overstayers, the duration increases to 5 years.
Access is granted to migration offices, border guards and, under certain conditions, general law enforcement authorities and Europol staff.
What concrete impact will the EES roll-out have on the workflow processes during border control at the EU's external borders?
At all EU external borders (air, land, sea), third-country travelers must be registered with their biometric features face and fingerprint.
Border control officers will thus have to integrate biometric enrollment procedures into the control process for the first time as of the introduction of the EES, in addition to the control and verification activities that already have to be carried out. This leads to new challenges for the border control personnel themselves as well as for the processes and technologies to be used in connection with border control.
Are there age restrictions on biometric enrollment? If yes, which ones?
A facial image is taken of every third-country traveler (including, for example, infants). Fingerprints may only be registered from the age of 12.
Are there regulations which biometric feature has to be used primarily for identification?
No, national authorities must determine for each border crossing point whether facial images or fingerprints are to be used as the primary biometric for performing identification.
Which technical guidelines and standards are relevant for the EES?
The German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has published various technical guidelines in the area of biometrics and eIDs. With regard to the Entry/Exit system, the following two technical guidelines are of particular importance:
- BSI TR-03121 Biometrics in sovereign applications.
- BSI TR-03135 "Machine Authentication of MRTDs for Public Sector Applications".
Both technical guidelines are available as free downloads on the BSI website.
Another technical guideline is currently under development: BSI TR-03156 "Public Sector Identity Management in Conjunction with European Registers and Border Control".
For biometric quality, ISO/IEC 19794-5 (facial image) and NFIQ 2.0 (fingerprint image) are relevant.
What measures must be taken at border checkpoints to capture facial images compliant with EES requirements?
According to EES requirements, initial registration requires the capture of a passport-quality facial image (ISO/IEC 19794-5) of each third-country traveler. This requires a capture system that can capture a frontal as well as well-lit facial image - regardless of environmental conditions or the traveler's height. The use of height-adjustable camera systems with diffuse illumination is the most reliable way to implement this.
What is the National Uniform Interface (NUI)?
The National Uniform Interface (NUI) will enable the secure connection of the EES Central System to the national border control infrastructures of the Member States. It will be based on common technical specifications and will be identical for all Member States.
What is the role of eu-LISA in the context of EES?
eu-LISA is responsible for the development of the EU Entry/Exit system and its operational management.
Will the Visa Information System (VIS) be interoperable with the EES?
Yes, the VIS will be interoperable with the EES. To enable interoperability between the EES Central System and the VIS Central System, eu-LISA will establish a secure communication channel between the EES and the VIS.
How can longer waiting times be avoided despite the additional necessary and complex processes?
Longer waiting times can be reduced primarily through automation and simplification of processes at key points:
- Self-service kiosk systems shift the time-consuming process of data entry and document verification in front of
- eGates (or ABC gates) enable travelers to cross the border on their own in the shortest possible time.
- At the stationary border control counter, applications specially developed for border control visualize the check results from different systems (results of pre-registration at the kiosk) at a glance
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