ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Biometric passport

Alright kiddo, you know how when you travel to another country, you have to show your passport to prove who you are? Well, a biometric passport is just like a regular passport, but it has some extra special features that help make sure it's really you!

See, a biometric passport has a tiny computer chip embedded in it that holds lots of information about you, like your name, birthdate, and a picture of your face. But that's not all! The chip also has something called biometric data, which is basically unique information about your body that makes you special.

For example, one kind of biometric data is your fingerprints. You know how everyone has their own fingerprints that are different from anyone else's? Well, when you get a biometric passport, they'll take your fingerprints and put them on the computer chip in your passport. That way, when you show your passport to a border guard or someone else who needs to make sure you're really you, they can scan your fingerprints to double-check that it matches the ones on your passport.

Another kind of biometric data is your facial recognition. You know how your face looks different from anyone else's and you can recognize your friends and family by their faces? Well, when you get a biometric passport, they'll take a really good picture of your face and put it on the computer chip in your passport too. That way, when someone needs to check that you're really you, they can use a special machine to compare your face to the picture on your passport.

So basically, a biometric passport is just a passport that has some extra special features to help make sure it's really you. It has a tiny computer chip that holds a lot of information about you, including special unique things about your body like your fingerprints and facial recognition. When you show your passport to someone else, they can use special machines to check your biometric data to make sure it matches up with what's on your passport. Pretty neat, huh?