Do I need an Immigration stamp when I enter or leave the country ?

No you do not. Each time you pass the border, by using Automatic Border Passage, the information will be collected electronically.

Do I still need to bring my passport with me when traveling with Saphire ?

Yes, you should always be able to prove your identity with a valid travel documents.  The Immigration may ask you for it.  Furthermore, you always need to be able to present a valid travel document when you enter the destination country to which you are travelling.

Can I use Saphire with an expired passport?

To enroll as a Saphire member, your passport should be valid at least 12 months for Indonesia citizen and 18 months for foreigner and the same condition applies for renewing. A record of your passport expiration date will be made  upon enrollment. You will receive a letter from us, informing that your passport is about to expire and remind you that you need to register  the new passport number at the Saphire Service Center. You will not be able to use the Automatic Border Passage if your passport is expired.

Why iris rather than some other biometric?

Extensive research has been undertaken into the accuracy, stability and convenience of different biometric devices. Research supports iris biometric devices as being the most accurate, stable, most difficult (almost impossible) to fool, the most convenient/hygienic and non-evasive.

Accuracy:
• The iris is less likely to become damaged than a fingerprint
• The iris cannot be forged in the same way as a fingerprint (fingerprint marks can be left behind and duplicated, but the iris leaves no mark).
• The iris does not change (age) over time in the same way as other physical characteristics (i.e. face/hand geometry)
• The iris template is made up of 247 independent variables, compared with (for example) 80 independent variables for fingerprint templates
• Multiple images (video) of the iris are used to ensure a living iris is present
• Professional research has indicated iris biometric devices to have significantly the lowest failure acceptance and rejection rates (FAR, FRR)
• There is currently a lot of high-publicity documentation on the failure of biometric verification devices (defeating fingerprint devices with artificial fingerprint masks, poor results of facial recognition devices in the US). No evidence has yet suggested that iris recognition solutions can be effectively fooled in either real-life or laboratory conditions

Convenience/Hygiene
• Iris image capturing is non contact, so there are no hygiene factors to contend with
• Lack of contact means the image capturing equipment requires less cleaning and maintenance thus reducing costs and limiting maintenance down-time

Will enrollment process and/or capturing my iris image do any damage to eyes?

• The iris image capturing process during enrollment,  identification or verification is totally hygienic and completely safe.
• The image capturing is non-contact so is totally hygienic.
• The iris camera takes a black and white picture of the iris. An LED light is shone onto the eye for a fraction of a second to help illuminate the eye for this purpose. The strength of this LED light is lower than/equivalent to the strength of the LED light in a domestic TV/Hi-Fi remote control unit.
• 2 US based medical tests have been undertaken on the Iridian LG2200 iris camera and the conclusions are that even under the worst-case operating conditions, the LED light source does not exceed the eye-hazard limits set by US and European standards (US – ANSI RP 27.1-96, EU – EN 60825-1). The research was conducted by David H. Sliney (Ph.D.), consulting physician, optical radiation hazard analyst and by James L. Cambier (Ph. D), VP Research, Iridian Technologies Inc.

Will contacts or eyeglasses affect results?

• Research to date suggests the non-coloured and/or non-patterned contact lenses or eye-glasses have no impact in any way on the accuracy of the iris image capturing devices. The most comprehensive survey to date (National Physics Laboratory, UK, March 2001) concluded no impact on usage/accuracy as a result of wearing non-coloured and/or non patterned contact lenses or eye-glasses
• Certain contact lenses (coloured and/ or patterned) and eye-glasses (highly reflective, mirrored, polarized, bifocal, sunglasses) may cause excessive reflection of the LED, preventing the capture of a suitable iris template. If capturing process is affected in this way, the user may have to remove the glasses and repeat the process.

Will laser eye surgery affect results?

• There is insufficient research evidence to indicate whether laser surgery will impact results although generally laser surgery is undertaken to correct the lens and should not alter the iris shape
• Certainly an altered eye will not lead to false acceptance, but may lead to rejection (as the real iris may no longer match the enrolled template).

Will cataracts or cornea damage affect results?

Iris changes caused by damage/disease may impact the results and leading to rejection of authorized members. The iris under normal conditions does not deteriorate or get damaged as easily as other physical attributes, but where damage/change does occur, rejection may be the result. The member will then be directed to the normal border control channels.

Can a blind person enroll?

Probably not. If an individual can not look directly at the iris scan camera, an iris template will not be captured

Does the iris geometry change over time such that a match will not be made?

Iris geometry may change slightly over time but is less susceptible to change and/or damage than other physical characteristics.

What happens if the iris recognition fails?

• You can come to the SaphireService Centre and we will train you on the usage.
• It might be easier if you cover one eye.
• There could be a number of reasons why the iris scan does not go smoothly. Make sure that you keep a distance of 10 to 15 cm between your eye and the iris scanner, and that you can focus only one eye into the scanner. If you notice that you have a lot of problems with one of your eyes, try using the other eye. Keep only one of your eye focus into the iris scanner and continue to stand still until the computer indicates 'identification is completed'. If the iris scan does not work, you will be taken to the 'regular passport control' booth next to the Automatic Border Passage where an Immigration officer will manually check your Saphire card and will, in that way, clear you with your card for passing the border

Is there any minimum height to become a Saphire member ?

The height of the iris scanner (1.30m) has been selected on the basis of a recommendation from an ergonomist. Considering the height at which the iris scanner is positioned, the minimum height to become a Saphire member is approximately 1.40m.

Is there an age limit for being a Saphire member?

In principle, anyone including children can be a Saphire member. However, minors should have their own passports and  to use the Automatic Border Passage the member should be able to look into the iris scanner which is installed at a height of 1.30 m, unaided. This means that members must be at least 1.40 m tall.

Are there statistics from independent bodies regarding the accuracy of iris in correctly matching a live image with a previously enrolled template?

• The National Physics Laboratory research is the most comprehensive laboratory study to date, focussed on matching live captures to a database of templates (1 to many matching).
• The Dutch Government has independently reviewed the matching accuracy of Privium in late 2002, at that moment the largest commercial application of iris recognition & smartcard
  technology in operation.