New passport raises safety concerns

Found on The Tribune on Monday, 03 January 2005
Browse Various

Before the end of the year, the first U.S. biometric passport will be issued with a tiny computer chip and antenna embedded inside it. The chip will contain a digital image of the person's face, along with other information such as name, birth date and birthplace. The data on the chip can be picked up wirelessly using a radio signal.

The problem, security and privacy experts say, is that the technical standard chosen for the system leaves passport data unprotected.

'The U.S.-backed standard means that all the information on American passports can be read by anyone with an RFID reader, whether they are an identity thief, a terrorist trying to spot the Americans in a room or a government agent looking to vacuum up the identities of everyone at a political rally, gun show or mosque,' said Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU's Washington, D.C., legislative office.

Hasbrouck believes the new passports will enable 'undetectable tracking and the identification of travelers, as well as secret, remote collection of all the data needed to create perfect passport forgeries.'

Sweet modern times. No more anonymous meetings or demonstrations. What surprises me is that although the government always claims it does everything to protect US citizens, the RFID passports will do exactly the opposite. Hand a scanner to a terrorist, and he will know who's from America. But then, there's always tinfoil...