I'm not in favor of the new passport changes, but I can tell you - knowing something about RFID technology - that there will be no way in hell they can read the data in your passport without presenting it 2 to 3 inches from a reader device. That fact is due to the limitations of the RFID technology chosen for the passport design and the laws of physics.

I'm not saying "have no fear". But it is far away from being a "radio on steriods" either.

Happy travels everybody!

Markus Arelius 23 Oct 2006

I'm only half-kidding about the radio beacon comment. I guess I have yet to read anything that sufficiently explains the benefits of putting chips in our passports. Their insistence that the encryption used renders the chips unhackable, is, quite frankly, horseshit. Perhaps by 2006 computing standards. What sort of computing power will we be holding (or wearing) in 2010?

From the article:

Anyone intent on harvesting passport data could set up a reader at [hotels, banks, Internet cafes]. And although the State Department insists that the chip can be read only by a reader that is inches away, the chips have been read from many feet away.

Pay off the right hotel desk jockey at the right place, and you've got yourself an identity theft goldmine. (And yes, this is the case now, passport RFID chip or not. But I'm not required to travel with, say, a credit card.)

Beyond any nefarious forces at home or abroad, what happens when your chip craps out and you're suddenly in possession of an invalid passport? Do you no longer get to go on your vacation or business trip? Are you not allowed back into the country?

andrew 23 Oct 2006

There is no nefarious reason why we put the chips in your passport. But we do understand your concerns and have noted in your file that you complained about it.

Nixon-Revivalist 24 Oct 2006