Comments on: Are new Passport Cards a gateway to counterfeit citizenship?

By: anonymous

anonymous — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 05:18:08 +0000

Passport Card is a joke…the people who decide on the RFID should be canned. Get some real brains to design and decide the passport Card.

jus wrap the passport card and/or passport in a couple of layers of Alumnium foil (three or four layers even better) …that should limit the RFID readability from afar

By: Ned Levi

Ned Levi — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:37:40 +0000

Greg, and everyone else, thanks for your comments. I appreciate you stopping by to read my column, and the time you took to make your comment. I hope you’ll be coming back to read my future columns, and those of my colleagues here at Tripso. You might be interested in sharing your experiences in our forums at Talking Travelers. Greg, all new US Passports now are issued with RFID chips. As I mentioned in my column,

U.S. citizens with the traditional passport book and its new RFID chip should be somewhat relieved to know it’s more secure than the one in the Passport Card, because its RFID has encryption and authentication features.

The most important feature included with the Passport RFID, which is not part of the Passport Card RFID, is an access-control system for the RFID chip. The data on the chip (Passport only) is encrypted, and the key is printed on the passport. The officer swipes the passport through an optical reader to get the key, and then the RFID reader uses the key to communicate with the RFID chip. This means that the passport-holder can control who has access to the information on the chip; someone cannot skim information from the passport without first opening it up and reading the information inside. The new design also includes a thin radio shield in the cover, protecting the chip when the passport is closed. The problem with the shield is that if the passport is open just a little bit, as can happen in a purse, for example, it is ineffective. As a result, I use one of those new RFID Blocking Passport Wallets. These wallets work two ways. First they contain shielding materials which block RFID signals, and second they ensure that passports remain closed while in the wallet. I rather be safe.

By: Greg Russell

Greg Russell — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:48:30 +0000

I just received a new passport and that also has an RFID tag in it. Is it just as easy to get the intormation off that?

By: Tony Azpeitia

Tony Azpeitia — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:35:25 +0000

From the beginning, this was another case of government compounding a “screwed up” passport situation by calling this document a “Passport Card”. That alone created massive confusion for the average U.S. citizen during the Passport fiasco. Many U.S. citizens, in trying to save money especially in these difficult economic times, jump at the opportunity to get a Passport Card not fully realizing the limitations as to its usage.
Now with this security issue, it appears to be a great time to admit a mistake and start over by doing the following.
1. Stop issuing the current card.
2. Give it another name that does not include “PASSPORT”. You might even call it what it is. “Boarder Crossing Card”. Wow! What a thought! Sounds like what its function.
Where are the government watchdogs on this one? Just jow long is it going to take to fix it?

By: John F

John F — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:06:30 +0000

Scary stuff for sure. Obviously a few other issues are that a passport card is more apt to be carried daily in a wallet whereas a full fledged passport is usually kept in a secure place at home unless traveling.So the opportunity (the leading cause of any crime) is much more prevalent.

While the Optical Strip might be the answer to TODAY’S encryption issues, will it be the answer tomorrow. We have seen technology move at lightning speeds and as soon as one technology is invented, someone has invented a means to thwart it.

Perhaps the solution is to not rely as heavily on technology and rely a bit more heavily on a well trained, qualified work force–which is a whole other discussion.