RFID Passports Make Debut in US amidst Warnings

Filed in archive Privacy and Security on July 31, 2006

The US State Department is all set to issue RFID chipped passports in spite of the fact that security experts have warned that such systems could be accessed or tracked by hackers. By 2017 all American passports would be having a RFID chip containing their personal information. The programme would start with the Denver passport office and would be rolled across the entire nation over the next few years.

The state department feels that these passports would strengthen security by making it difficult to forge the official documents and in case the passport is stolen the chip has a unique identifying number which could be tracked by law enforcement agencies worldwide. In the future the extra memory space on the RFID chip could be used for storing biometric information such as fingerprint image.

A number of security experts have already pointed fingers over the use of contactless chips which do not require contact with a scanner and the new passport could be read about four inches from a scanner and with technological changes taking place at a fast pace and with a ten year life of these passports it could be hacked. Certainly their fear seems to be logical but it is still unsure as to why the government is pushing this technology too hard is still a question which remains to be answered.

My friend cum editor on this blog, Anita has already talked about RFID blocking passport cases which could be used to counter hacking.