p2pnet - rss feed: New US passports
p2pnet.net News:- "It’s December 2005 and you’re all set for Christmas in Vienna. You have your most fashionable cold-weather gear, right down to Canada’s national red maple leaf embroidered on your jacket and backpack, to conceal your American citizenship from hostile denizens of Europe.
"But your secret isn’t really safe. As you stroll through the terminal, you pass a nondescript man with a briefcase. The briefcase contains a powerful radio scanner, and simply by walking past, you’ve identified yourself as an American. Without laying a finger on you, the man has electronically ’skimmed’ the data in your passport."
That’s a chilling scenario, whether you’re from America or elsewhere, and it’s raised by the Boston Globe’s Hiawatha Bray who goes on to quote US State Department spokeswoman Kelly Shannon as saying, "We’re going to prevent the unauthorized skimming of the data."
Under discussion are the ubiquitous RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips being adopted almost willy-nilly by government and public and private sector interests for uses ranging from ’security’ to providing medical information, remotely.
Government documents released by the American Civil Liberties Union say early versions of the system allowed detection of personal data by a snoop 30 feet away. But Shannon, "dismissed this research," says Bray. She says equipment needed to capture the data is too complex and heavy to be used undercover.
A properly shielded passport cover should solve the problem, Bray has Bruce Schneier, "software engineer and author of multiple books on computer security," saying.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch-house …………
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See:-
unauthorized skimming - U.S. Passport Privacy: Over and Out?, the Bostoin Globe, December 23, 2004
willy-nilly - Big Brother: already here, p2pnet, September 7, 2004
December 25th, 2004 at 12:37 am
Not that it’s that complex to shield.
Enclose you passport in a metal sheet.
December 25th, 2004 at 9:45 pm
A Faraday cage for passports. That’s a new one.
December 26th, 2004 at 2:31 am
That’s the last thing i need, some jerkoff with an infidel detector in an isreali airport who will then be able to dart me and spirit me away before i even notice him.
December 28th, 2004 at 4:06 pm
I nice sharp needle to the heart of the chip should do the trick. It would work if everybody did it. If I’m traveling outside of the us I’d do it for my personal safety and endure the scrutiny at customs when I re-entered the “Land of The Free”