Travelling in the European Union is about to become either easier, safer or spookier. Last week, the EU parliament voted overwhelmingly to create the Common Identity Repository (CIR). This will be a massive database of over 350 million biometric records that consolidates data from several other repositories. The data will not be limited to just EU citizens - anyone travelling within the EU will be swept up in this new system.

In a newly released white paper, Apple has detailed how Face ID works. As a new form of authentication for iOS users, there have been lots of questions as users and businesses question whether the system can be fooled and how safe it is compared to other forms of authentication.

Aside from the embarrassing gaffe that put Apple's Face ID in the spotlight when it failed to recognise Craig Federighi's smiling visage during the Apple dog-and-pony show earlier this week, Face ID is now facing questions from the US senate. But the implications are broader and the questions Tim Cook is being asked are interesting.

Uppercase, lowercase, number, symbol - it's the mantra repeated over and over by IT admins when they set password rules. Throw in the requirement to change those passwords every 30 days or so, and not repeat an old password or even have characters in the same place over some arbitrary cycle and you suddenly have a complex set of rules that makes life really hard for users. And the guy who penned many of these rules, Bill Burr from NIST, says he screwed up.

Authentication and identity are still, despite more than six decades of computing, a serious challenge for those designing secure systems. Over recent years, fingerprint scanners have become far better to the point where the TouchID scanner on my iPhone works flawlessly. But if the rumours are right, the next iPhone will use facial recognition.

Last night, the Federal government unveiled their budget for the coming year. The old days of "smokes are up, beer is up" are well behind us with the government's economic centrepiece now a collection of promises and wishes that are meant somehow to make us feel better about today and have confidence in tomorrow. This year, there were plenty of tech angles in the budget. Here are my five highlights.

As part of my quest to find the prefect Windows 10 tablet, I've had a chance to play with some Windows 10 features I've not really delved into previously. One of those is Windows Hello. If supported on your device, you'll find Windows Hello in Widows Settings by clicking or tapping on Accounts and then choosing Sign-in options.

Mastercard has announced their next generation credit card. With an integrated fingerprint reader, the new cards are being tested in South Africa with a leading supermarket and a couple of banks participating in the trial.

Over the past few years, the once-fantastical concept of the "bionic man" has become a reality as 3D-printed body parts inch into the mainstream. Biofabrication isn't science-fiction any longer; instead it's a viable career choice for biology-loving engineers. Here's what you need to know about this intriguing job opportunity.