Another reason to get a passport soon before they put the chip in

[Russell Kanning]

Doesn't a passport have most if not all the features of a national ID?

[Pat McCotter]

It is a national ID. One needs it to travel into and out of the country. I do not let the government know where and when I am traveling so I don't need one.

[Kat Kanning]

U.S. set to issue passports with RFID chips
An August deadline will be met despite fears of security experts

Marc Songini / Computer World | July 29 2006

The U.S. Department of State is on track to start issuing passports with radio frequency identification (RFID) chips next week, despite warnings from some security experts that such systems could be accessed or tracked by hackers.

The new program will start in the Denver passport office and be rolled out across the country over the next several years. All American passports are expected to include RFID chips containing personal information by 2017.

State Department personnel have successfully tested the electronic passports over the past year, said Frank Moss, deputy assistant secretary for passport services.

Moss contended that electronic passports improve security by making it harder to forge or alter official documents. All personal information on the chip must precisely match that in the printed portion of the electronic passport. "In the past, it could have been possible to put a new photo inside [a stolen passport] or find someone who looks like the holder," Moss said.

Additionally, if an electronic passport is stolen, the chip has a unique identifying number that can be tracked by law enforcement agencies worldwide, he said.

Moss said that extra memory space on the RFID chip may be used in the future to store biometric information such as a fingerprint image. However, he said no decision has yet been made on how to use the extra storage space.

Some security experts have expressed concern over the use of a chip that doesn't require contact with a scanner. The new passport can be read about four inches from a scanner.

Given the fast pace of technology changes, and the 10-year life of a passport, it's inevitable that the RFID chip will become hackable and that technology will be built to access it from long distances, said Bruce Schneier, founder and CTO of Counterpane Internet Security Inc. in Mountain View, Calif. The new passport could eventually allow for surreptitious access and tracking, he said.

Schneier contended that the State Department could have used an RFID chip that requires contact with a reader. "I can think of no benefit for a contact-less chip," he said. "The question is, if there is no good reason for RFID, why are they pushing so hard for it?"

Other experts downplayed such potential flaws. "The only vaguely legitimate arguments I have heard against E-passports is that they might permit someone two feet away from you to learn that you are American and blow you up, or permit someone two feet away to learn whatever might be stored on the E-passport," said Michael Shamos, a professor who specializes in security issues at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

"It's a balancing of risks. The E-passport will be much more difficult to forge and thus ought to reduce the prospect of terrorists getting hold of valid ones," he said.

The passive 64Kb RFID devices in the new passports will be supplied by Infineon Technologies North America Corp. of San Jose and Amsterdam-based Gemalto NV, Moss said. The E-passports meet specifications laid down by the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations standards body.

The ICAO has been pushing for its 189-member countries to adopt machine-readable, electronically enabled passports by 2010.

[aries]

Another good reason to own a microwave.

Mine expires in 2015 (my passport)

[Dave Ridley]

actually could be some good news " embedded " in that article:

if rfid's are to be issued to "all americans" by 2017 that could be an indicator that you or i could renew our passport around  2015 without the chip and be good to go until we are senior citizens.

again, j. j. luna says the current u.s. passport is about he least bad of all generally accepted identification cards you can carry.   too bad that's about to go away.

[aries]

Those embassy of heaven people also issue passports.

The micronation of Sealand was issuing passports and citizenship for a small fee, and the passports were respected at most points of entry. There is nothing with regards to identity verification on passports. They are accepted by customs at face value, anticounterfeiting features are checked, if the country even puts them on at all, and stamped.

Some countries however, such as Canada and the US, don't allow residents of certain countries to enter with a passport - they require a visa. I believe a few foreign countries require the same of US residents.

[Friday]

I received a friendly invitation from the USPS to attend an Open House at the Nashua Post Office on September 23rd.  Passport Applications Processed.  Refreshments served!  Well geez, why didn't they SAY so... I'll get chipped if they give me a cookie. 

[JonM]

Another good reason to own a microwave.

Mine expires in 2015 (my passport)

What they mean is anyone who renewed this year (such as me) pre chip will have to renew by 2017 and get a chip.

[jaqeboy]

Info from the State Department on Passports:
http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

You can go directly to the Passport Office in the Thomas P. O'Neill Federal Building in Boston, on Causeway Street, next to the Boston Garden (or whatever the name is now - it was the Fleet Center for a while), if you want to get a passport on short notice. A couple of us are going down during the week if anyone wants to go down with. Have to get the photo taken and printed first - there's a camera store on Main Street in Nashua that we're going to use.

[JonM]

If you're a AAA gold member, just go to one of the AAA offices, passport photos are free.  There's a fee for non gold members, but probably cheaper than other places.

[burnthebeautiful]

Moss contended that electronic passports improve security by making it harder to forge or alter official documents. All personal information on the chip must precisely match that in the printed portion of the electronic passport. "In the past, it could have been possible to put a new photo inside [a stolen passport] or find someone who looks like the holder," Moss said.

And with an RFID-passport, you'll be able to replace the RFID chip, you dumbass.

Jesus, do RFID-supporters think it'll be impossible, or even that difficult, for someone with the right equipment to just make their own rfid chip? Machines that make magnetic-strip cards are already commonplace, hotels and other businesses use them to make the keys for doors. Anyone who's ever had their hotel card not work knows you just go to the front-desk and they they just punch the info into a machine and swipe the card and bam, new card. What makes anyone think doing the same thing for rfid chips would be more difficult? You just make a program where you can put in a picture of your choice, enter date of birth information etc, and the machine puts the info onto an rfid chip.

I mean seriously, do they really think nobody will be able to figure out how to make a replica of the governments rfid-chip making machine?

[Rochelle]

Because the chip's data can't be altered, proponents say, forging passports will be virtually impossible

Say, would this be the same passport that some hacker or computer expert person already managed to forge? I swear I read something about that recently....
But that's okay. They say it's unforgable, it must be unforgable.

Mine runs out in 4 years or so...I wonder if I should bother getting a new one or not  I like the stamps I have in there, but they do seem to confuse anyone who looks at it...

[Spencer]

When you get a new passport, they mail you back your old one (so you don't lose the stamps).

[KBCraig]

Moss contended that electronic passports improve security by making it harder to forge or alter official documents. All personal information on the chip must precisely match that in the printed portion of the electronic passport. "In the past, it could have been possible to put a new photo inside [a stolen passport] or find someone who looks like the holder," Moss said.

And with an RFID-passport, you'll be able to replace the RFID chip, you dumbass.

Just to clarify, I believe burnthebeautiful is directing the "dumbass" comment towards the quoted "Moss", not toward Kat. 

I'm pretty sure Kat's kung fu is strong, and she could make her passport say that she's Kong the Unquestionable, if she wanted.

Kevin

[Kat Kanning]

Hi-yah!