A biometric passport, also known as an electronic passport, e-passport, or digital passport, is a traditional passport that has an embedded electronic microprocessor chip containing biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of the passport holder. Biometric passports are more secure than traditional passports because they contain a chip that holds specific biometric information, such as fingerprints, facial recognition, or iris scans, which are unique to each person and can be used to authenticate identity. The use of biometrics is important for national security, and many countries are moving towards issuing biometric passports to their citizens. To obtain a biometric passport, an applicant must appear in an Interior Ministry office to be photographed by a special camera that records information such as facial bone structure, distance between ones eyes, ears to eyes, and ratio of facial features one from another. The applicant will also be fingerprinted, and all this information will be stored in the new high-tech electronic passport. The United States requires that the chip in the passport contain a digital photograph of the holder, and all e-passports issued by Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries and the United States have security features to prevent the unauthorized reading or "skimming" of data stored on the e-passport chip.