Better renew that passport now

'cause after October 2006, they'll all have RFID chips implanted in them. This is a colossally stupid idea.

Over the last year, opposition to the idea of implanting RFID chips in passports has grown amidst worries that identity thieves could snatch personal information out of the air simply by aiming a high-powered antenna at a person or a vehicle carrying a passport. Out of the 2,335 comments on the plan that were received by the State Department this year, 98.5 percent were negative. The objections mostly focused on security and privacy concerns. (emphasis mine)

Oh, that wacky Bush Administration, protecting us from ourselves again...