The RFID tag in your passport knows who and where you are. (1 Viewer)

DadsDream

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Today, the government awarded huge contracts to General Dynamics and Unisys to produce radio ID tagged cards which will act as passports for ground and ship based transportation between the U.S., Canada and Mexico and the Caribbean. They can be read up to 30 feet away.

Remember that commercial, "The boxes know where they are"?

Well, it'll soon be, "The card knows who and where you are and so does the government."

HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Government Awards Passport Card Deals
© 2008 The Associated Press
Jan. 15, 2008


WASHINGTON — The government has awarded contracts worth up to $99.3 million to General Dynamics Corp. and up to $62 million to Unisys Corp. to produce identification cards and reader technology.

Under a five-year State Department contract announced Tuesday, General Dynamics Information Technology will produce so-called passport cards, which will contain Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. The cards will allow citizens to return to the U.S. from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by land or water.

READ MORE
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5456241.html

Privacy Concerns Over 'Leaky' U.S. Passport Card
A proposed new RFID-enabled U.S. passport card poses serious security and privacy risks for users, the Centers for Democracy and Technology warns.
Jaikumar Vijayan, Computerworld
Tuesday, January 08, 2008 6:00 PM PST


A proposed new RFID-enabled passport card intended for use by Americans frequently travelling to Canada, Mexico. Bermuda and the Caribbean poses serious security and privacy risks for users, the Centers for Democracy and Technology (CDT) warned this week.

Among the concerns are the potential for the card to be used for location tracking by government and private entities and the relative ease with which it can be manipulated for identity theft purposes, the CDT said.

READ MORE
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,141199-c,privacy/article.html
 
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The newly issued passports already have it, I think. My gf just got her's renewed and the second page has an American flag that lets you know that it's the tagged ones IIRC.
 
This is no different than the TWIC card or what I hear coming down the pipe (supposedly) the homeland security card. It's all government junk.
 
The newly issued passports already have it, I think. My gf just got her's renewed and the second page has an American flag that lets you know that it's the tagged ones IIRC.


Thanks, my wife and I got ours in Sept. I'll check ours.

If they look for mine they will find it in a filing cabinet at the house.
 
The stuff I read said these new RFID cards are not recognized for air travel.

They are only for ground and ship based travel for folks who will frequently have to pass between the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
 
This says "proposed"...Regarding existing Passports from the article.The approach is substantially different from the proximity-read technology being used in U.S. electronic passports, and it offers fewer protections, according to Ari Schwartz, deputy director at the CDT. Electronic passports contain all of the same identification data that appears on the first page of a passport, and includes a digital photograph and a digital signature. But the information on those chips is encrypted at all times and can only be accessed by physically swiping the card through a reader at the border crossing.
 
Proposed? Read the dates on the two articles posted.

The five-year contracts to produce the cards was awarded today.
 
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We shall see. Most of it is garbage but some of it would not surprise me.
 
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Proposed? Read the dates on the two articles posted.

The five-year contracts to produce the cards was awarded today.

Privacy Concerns Over 'Leaky' U.S. Passport Card

A proposed new RFID-enabled U.S. passport card poses serious security and privacy risks for users, the Centers for Democracy and Technology warns.


:dunno:
 
Privacy Concerns Over 'Leaky' U.S. Passport Card

A proposed new RFID-enabled U.S. passport card poses serious security and privacy risks for users, the Centers for Democracy and Technology warns.


:dunno:

WASHINGTON — The government has awarded contracts worth up to $99.3 million to General Dynamics Corp. and up to $62 million to Unisys Corp. to produce identification cards and reader technology.

Like DD said, check the dates. :dunno:
 
Just wrap your passport in aluminum foil creating a shield around the passport greatly inhibiting the transmission of the RF when an RF reader is present. Someone would have to get within a couple of inches to read it.
 
Australia_rfid_passport.jpg


The square at the bottom is the chip. I was a bit off.
 

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