iTechNote

e-Passports or RFID passports are passports embedded with RFID tags. The first issuing country was Malaysia in 1998. The Malaysian passport records the travel history (time, date, and place) of entries and exits from the country.

On October 25, 2005, the U.S. government announced that all U.S. passports would be implanted with RFID tags starting in October 2006.

How can you tell if your passport contains a RFID tag? Look for the Electronic Passport logo on the front cover (shown on the left). The tag is capable of transmitting your name, nationality, sex, date of birth, place of birth and digitized photograph. Additional digitized data such as “fingerprints or iris scans” may also be included.

All of the 27 countries whose citizens can travel to the U.S. without a visa (under the Visa Waiver Program) are now issuing e-Passports with the exception of Andorra, Brunei and Liechtenstein. The deadline for these countries to start issuing passports with RFID tags was Oct. 26.

Researchers have addressed e-passport security and privacy concerns over the past few months. The security risks identified include:

Privacy Concerns

At a reading range of 25 feet and above, the tags could theoretically be read by hidden sensors alongside the road, in the airport or in the hands of criminals hoping to identify someone by his or her ID number. The RFID tags can also be cloned with a laptop equipped with a $200 RFID reader and a similarly inexpensive smart card writer.

Nationality Driven Detonator

RFID tags embedded in travel documents could identify U.S. passports from a distance, possibly letting terrorists use them as a trigger for explosives. It only takes a person to get close by a hidden detonating device to be killed.

However, the latest U.S. Department of State FAQ on U.S. Electronic Passport seems to suggest a reduced reading range.

.. An example of skimming could be secretly reading data while in close proximity to a user on a bus. In this application, the chip is designed to operate within 10 centimeters (less than 4 inches) of a chip reader using appropriate public keys.

If the range is down to 10 centimeters, I would say the e-passport is pretty safe. If you are still not convinced, use a photocopy whenever you can and keep the real one wrapped in tin foil. The RFID tag is “off” when you fully close the passport.

e-Passports or RFID passports are passports embedded with RFID tags. The first issuing country was Malaysia in 1998. The Malaysian passport records the travel history (time, date, and place) of entries and exits from the country.

On October 25, 2005, the U.S. government announced that all U.S. passports would be implanted with RFID tags starting in October 2006.

How can you tell if your passport contains a RFID tag? Look for the Electronic Passport logo on the front cover (shown on the left). The tag is capable of transmitting your name, nationality, sex, date of birth, place of birth and digitized photograph. Additional digitized data such as “fingerprints or iris scans” may also be included.

All of the 27 countries whose citizens can travel to the U.S. without a visa (under the Visa Waiver Program) are now issuing e-Passports with the exception of Andorra, Brunei and Liechtenstein. The deadline for these countries to start issuing passports with RFID tags was Oct. 26.

Researchers have addressed e-passport security and privacy concerns over the past few months. The security risks identified include:

Privacy Concerns

At a reading range of 25 feet and above, the tags could theoretically be read by hidden sensors alongside the road, in the airport or in the hands of criminals hoping to identify someone by his or her ID number. The RFID tags can also be cloned with a laptop equipped with a $200 RFID reader and a similarly inexpensive smart card writer.

Nationality Driven Detonator

RFID tags embedded in travel documents could identify U.S. passports from a distance, possibly letting terrorists use them as a trigger for explosives. It only takes a person to get close by a hidden detonating device to be killed.

However, the latest U.S. Department of State FAQ on U.S. Electronic Passport seems to suggest a reduced reading range.

.. An example of skimming could be secretly reading data while in close proximity to a user on a bus. In this application, the chip is designed to operate within 10 centimeters (less than 4 inches) of a chip reader using appropriate public keys.

If the range is down to 10 centimeters, I would say the e-passport is pretty safe. If you are still not convinced, use a photocopy whenever you can and keep the real one wrapped in tin foil. The RFID tag is “off” when you fully close the passport.