* New US Passports Will Serve as Terrorist Beacons

The US State Department is pushing for what may be the
most misguided and dangerous travel "security" plan
ever proposed: putting insecure radio-frequency
identification (RFID) chips in all new US passports.
These chips would broadcast your name, date of birth,
nationality, unique passport number, and any other
personal information contained in the passport to anyone
with a compatible RFID reader. That's right - anyone,
not just passport control.

"The upshot of this is that travelers carrying around
RFID passports are broadcasting their identity,"
observes security expert Bruce Schneier. "It means
that anyone with a reader can learn that information,
without the passport holder's knowledge or consent.
It means that pickpockets, kidnappers, and terrorists
can easily - and surreptitiously - pick Americans or
nationals of other participating countries out of a
crowd."

Astonishingly, the State Department proposal abandons
even the most fundamental security protections. Why
broadcast passport data at all? With machine-readable
travel documents that require physical contact between
passport and reader, you can rest assured that your
passport will only be read when you intend to show it,
eliminating any risk of surreptitious reading. But the
State Department isn't only endorsing contactless RFID
technology for passports - it wants to broadcast your
personal information *in the clear.* In other words,
it wants to use digital signatures for authentication,
but doesn't want to encrypt or otherwise protect
passport data, claiming that the information isn't
worth protecting and that encryption would interfere
with "global interoperability."

This is especially disturbing in light of the fact
that safer options are readily available; the
government already uses a line-of-sight LaserCard
optical memory card that can't be read from your
wallet or purse for multiple-entry visa Border
Control Cards ("LaserVisas").

Privacy advocate Bill Scannell calls RFID-embedded
passports "terrorist beacons" - and that's precisely
what they'll become if we allow the State Department
to move ahead with this plan. The Department
is soliciting the public's input on the new passports,
and the time to act is now - the deadline for
submitting comments is this coming Monday, April 4.
Follow the links below to learn more and submit your
comments today:

US State Department Notice of Proposed Rule Making:
<http://www.eff.org/cgi/tiny?urlIDC6>
(Federal Register; please note that all comments
must include the Regulatory Identification Number,
RIN 1400-AB93, in the message subject line.)

Bruce Schneier: "RFID Passports":
<http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2004/10/rfid_passports.html>

Bill Scannell's website: "RFID Kills":
<http://www.rfidkills.com>

Edward Hasbrouck: "Deadlines Loom for RFID Tracking Chips
in USA Passports":
<http://hasbrouck.org/blog/archives/000542.html>