State Dep't. OK's RFID Passports
posted October 26th 2005 1:50PM
Passport-embedded RFID tags are back with a vengeance, as the State Department has given the go-ahead for December
testing of a new system with enhanced security features, following
intense public pressure that forced them to
scuttle their original design this past June. The new
arrangement contains two key security upgrades: embedded anti-skimming material to prevent non-authorized personnel
from stealing personal data and Basic Access Control, which requires user-certification before the RFID chip will
broadcast its signal. State Department officials promise that the tech jibes with guidelines set by the U.N.-affiliated
International Civilian Aviation Organization, the body tasked with setting international machine-readable passport
standards. Assuming the tests go as planned, and the ACLU remains placated, expect Uncle Sam to start issuing these
high tech ID's early next year.
[Via Smart Mobs and
Techdirt, photo courtesy of
The Globalist]
Hmmm....so what exactly happens when you get your passport stolen? What information is on these tags? Obviously a needed upgrade but if these things can be replicated I don't want 50 of me running around the world...
Not a problem, just slip it under the tinfoil hat.
"key security upgrades: embedded anti-skimming material to prevent non-authorized personnel from stealing personal data . . . "
Glad to know those authorized people can take what they like. Corruption, never!
Sure. Because the government has the most sophisticated computer system and smartest minds in the world, making insane amounts of cash.
Great, now I have to worry about my passport being hacked, and my personal information harvested for anything from terror investigations to credit reports. No thanks, I'll stick with my paper one.
"No thanks, I'll stick with my paper one."
How CUTE! You think you're going to have a choice!
Robot Immigration Officer to Citizen:
"I am sorry Sir, you can't enter your country right now as our wireless reader is down. Please try again later"
Why not just go ahead and imbed these babies directly into our epidermis and get it over with.
Why not just go ahead and imbed these babies directly into our epidermis and get it over with.
"How CUTE! You think you're going to have a choice!"
:)
This is such a bad idea...
With these big brother can watch you every time you get on a subway, go to the library, drive through a toll booth and anywhere else they decide to stick their RFID readers....
bad idea!
It all sounds wierd and freaky, but the real question nobody has asked yet is....where is the headphone jack can I sync it with my itunes and how many songs will it hold?
KC: That is if you always carry your passport. Which I guess would be true when you're outside the country but I don't know many people who carry theirs arround while in their home country.
Will this help eliminate the paper forms we have to fill out in the plane before we enter the country? If not this just seams like another episode of Big Government's Big Spending.
i'm actually doing a research paper about security and the invasion of privacy, and the ineffectiveness (hackability) of it, and this is atleast worth a page. lol. on a side note, what are the "tags" in alot of the products at walmart, that set off the alarms?? i was searching, and it says they just "recently" (2003-2004) came out with rfid in walmart.
You can get passport holders to protect passports, I'm sure someone will come up with one that blocks the rfid signal.
Haven't seen anywhere on english pages the news that the US practically bullied Norway into testing RFID passports (Sweden followed). All passports issued after October 3rd, have chips, and i'm guessing not the fancy secure one. The text i'm linking to is in Norwegian, but it clearly states that the user has no control over who reads the data, just that the reading range is only 10cm.
http://www.computerworld.no/index.cfm/fuseaction/artikkel/id/54168
Oh come on, people. If you're worried about the government using these for evil purposes, I've got news for you: they can already track you just fine without this passport. And how much is this _really_ going to cost? It's a drop in the bucket compared to what we spend on, say, keeping old people alive in nursing homes.
This is like fundamentalist groups that thought bar codes were somehow the mark of the beast and that some day during the Tribulation you'd have to have one stamped on your forehead. You're safe.
The government really isn't all that interested in (or capable of) following you around every day as you go to Wendy's for your frosty. Especially you, paranoid nerd.
No problem. Just throw it in the microwave for 10 seconds or so. Chips pop a lot faster than popcorn.