Building Trust with Plastic: 7 Noteworthy Security Features in Modern Passports and IDs

We’re used to seeing security fibers in paper pages quite often. Such fibers are incorporated during security paper production—the process is similar to adding sprinkles on a birthday cake. But the German passport issued in 2021 conceals a surprise too—transparent fluorescent security fibers spread across only a specific rectangular area of the polycarbonate page.

The same security fibers can be found in German ID cards, with the only difference being that they are randomly scattered across the whole surface of the reverse side.

A polycarbonate data page is thicker than a paper sheet, and it also has information on the edge of the page that is invisible to the naked eye. Engraved information on such a thin surface is a modern security feature.

Usually, it repeats the passport number, like in the Belgian passport.

But in the case of the Finnish passport, it also features the country code FIN above the passport number.

A HID MIRAGE™ is a quite unique and easy-to-check security feature, including such elements as a negative laser image of the passport holder, a metallic effect, a watermark effect, a changing image, and a clear window.

In passports, the reverse side of the data page secured with MIRAGE™ contains an image that becomes visible on the front side when light shines directly through it from the back.

The shape of the security feature, as well as the appearing image, are customizable.

An MLI encodes two initial images. In most cases, it is an image of the passport holder and their date of birth. Above these images, there are special lenses that help to see the first or second image in sharp detail when tilting an identity document.

A clear window is a transparent area on the data page that protects a security document against illegal copying, or serves as a filter for visualizing latent scrambled images on the secondary holder's images.

When it is a 2-in-1 security feature, it becomes even harder to replicate. Such a combination is not that popular, but can be found in passports from Germany, Montenegro, and Kyrgyzstan, as well as ID cards from Iceland.

A watermark is such a common security feature in paper documents, it’s only natural that it’s used in polycarbonate documents as well. It can be enhanced with secure core print (SCP), which is a printing layer that is surrounded by layers on both sides.

SCP imitates the effect of the watermark, and it can be checked under transmitted light. Under different light sources, it is even called a pseudo watermark.

There are many different types of optically variable printed images. But what unites them is that they are based on lenticular technology. In simple words, this is an image printed in a certain way on one of the layers; as a result of the lenticular lens applied to the surface of the page, we see the effect of movement.

It can be a simple element, consisting of two pictures abruptly changing, or a complex one that has several pictures to deliver smoothness and imitate motion effects.

It involves creating a raised or recessed design on the document surface without the use of inks or any other pigments, relying solely on the physical deformation of the material. In paper documents, it was used to design secure passport covers. In modern passports, it is used on polycarbonate data pages.

But as we are discussing remarkable security features in current passports and ID cards, we’ve chosen an example of a blind embossing element that features a holographic effect.

The holographic effect happens because of the corrugated surface, in which grooves are in different locations. When tilting and rotating, light is refracted, and we can observe the holographic effect.

Polycarbonate documents, as well as hybrid documents combining paper and polycarbonate, are gaining undeniable popularity due to their durability and the ability to incorporate advanced security features. However, despite this trend, traditional paper-based security features such as watermarks and security fibers have not been entirely abandoned. Instead, they have been adapted for use on polycarbonate data pages, or their effects have been recreated to maintain the familiar and trusted aesthetics hand-in-hand with the newest and most complex security features. 

This sampling was made with the use of Secure Documents Ultimate, a comprehensive weekly updated catalog of documents and banknotes that contains around 12,200 samples with clickable security features and printing techniques. This catalog can be your helping hand in carrying out authenticity verification of identity/vehicle documents or banknotes anywhere and anytime.

Don’t hesitate to contact our sales team to choose a solution that will meet your specific needs.