[zeugma]

I'd not heard about the proposal to make RFID standard in passports. Mr. Schneier has come up with some serious problems with the idea IMO.

For those not familiar with Bruce Schneier, he runs Counterpane.com a security consultancy. He wrote Applied Cryptography, a "bible" of sorts in the crypto world. His encryption algorythm, "twofish", was one of the three finalists in the NIST's quest to adopt a new encryption standard to replace DES.

[Final Authority]

An RFID passport or other electronic document would be transported in a Faraday envelope to prevent other readers from polling it. Such a controlled device would, as an RFID document would have, a IFF protocol as well. Not just any document reader could poll it unless it is authorized.

Your fears are unfounded.

[Final Authority]

An RFID passport or other electronic document would be transported in a Faraday envelope to prevent other readers from polling it. Such a controlled device would, as an RFID document would have, a IFF protocol as well. Not just any document reader could poll it unless it is authorized.

Your fears are unfounded.

[Poohbah]

The upshot of this is that travelers carrying around RFID passports are broadcasting their identity.

Could we please get someone technically competent to comment on technology, please?

[GOP Jedi]

I've heard tell of Bluetooth sniper guns that can pick up Bluetooth transmission from over a mile away. Imagine a RFID system that zeroes in on a local RFID signal, fires a 50 cal bullet right at wherever the passport is, then moves on to the next target less than a second later. Now imagine such a system set up behind a billboard sign in, say, Times Square. Imagine six such system operating simulaneously.

[BoBToMatoE]

666

The sign of the beast. Sorry if some of you guys think I am a nut, but when you are talking about using stuff like this (and probably embeding them into people.. why not, we do pets).. Its just a sign of the times.

[Yo-Yo]

Encryption of the data would make it harder for run-of-the-mill bad guys to counterfit US Passports. Having encrypted biometric data such as fingerprint or retnal pattern encoded into the passport, that would have to match person bearing same, would add confidence in who we are letting in the 'front door' of our country.

As far as RFID goes, my dog has a chip in her neck too. Why not a contact chip? Because it is much harder to design a contact interface that would stand up to the abuse that the typical passport goes through. It is a booklet, not a card, therefore it is not easily adapted to magnetic stripe technology. Electrical contact chips also are subject to contact failure. What do you do when a foreign national comes into LAX and darn, his passport won't connect to the reader? Deport him or wave him through anyway? An RFID chip, like the one in my dog, can be hermetically sealed and would be very resistant to failure.

Now, you know the step that they're already working on is RFID luggage claim tags and boarding passes. Easy to find out exactly which ticketed passengers are on board and what luggage is in the hold, making it easy to match passengers to their baggage. Is Mr. Schneier equally alarmed at RFID boarding passes and luggage claim tags?

[unlearner]

We should stop car and air travel because moving at speeds greater than 30 mph are very likely to cause death.

</sarcasm>

New technology can speed things up, reduce cost, and help government and businesses do their work more effectively.