As of January 2006 all issued U.S. passports carry an RFID microchip embedded with personal information, including name, nationality, gender, date of birth, place of birth and a digitized photo.
Government officials have repeatedly assured privacy advocates and the public that the personal information on the chips is secure, and that the technology will make it more difficult to forge passports and enter the country illegally.
It seems however that they are not that secure. Recently a hacker with easily acquired equipment was able to copy a few RFIDs while tooling around San Francisco in his car.
See clip below…
The RFID technology is starting to appear in drivers’ licenses too.
If you are concerned about your privacy and want protect your passport there are number of options including Passport Stronghold, RFID-Shield and ID Stronghold.
More at engadget.
February 3rd, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Ridiculous! And ‘they’ say the technology is better and more safe? Piffle!
February 4th, 2009 at 11:13 am
This concerns me because I’m getting my passport renewed this year. Just another thing to worry about.
One would think that the folks behind this technology has researched and worked out the kinks, I hope they do now. What a future mess this is going to be