Security advocates warn “vicinity-read” RFID technology threatens passport holders’ privacy, notes E-Week.
On January 31, 2008, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers will stop taking verbal declarations of citizenship from U.S., Canadian, or Bermudian travelers as proof of citizenship. The new RF-ID passports will be available to U.S. citizens by this spring. They will cost $45 for adults and $35 for children, cheaper than a regular passport. Adults who have passports will have to pay only $20. They will be accepted for land and sea crossings between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, but not for flights.
The Smart Card Alliance asked the U.S. government to reconsider its plan to use “vicinity read” RFID (pdf) in the proposed Passport Card (pdf), citing: “…technology providers of both contactless and RFID products, understand human identification security and agree that the vicinity read RFID technology proposed for the passport card is the wrong technology to implement a secure identification card…”
Some members of Congress and security advocates worry that unencrypted passports, combined with long range readers, could lead to wholesale identity theft.
The problem with vicinity-read radio-frequency identification, opponents say, is that the technology—which enables a reader to extract data from an RFID chip at a distance of up to 20 feet—poses undue security and privacy threats. The Center for Democracy and Technology said on its Web site that the Department of State’s new rules call for vicinity-read RFID technology without the use of encryption.
In 2006, RFID tags were included in new US passports. The US produced 10 million passports in 2005, and it has been estimated that 13 million will be produced in 2006. The chips will store the same information that is printed within the passport and will also include a digital picture of the owner.
The US State Department initially stated the chips could only be read from a distance of 10 cm (4 in), but after widespread criticism and a clear demonstration that special equipment can read the test passports from 10 meters (33 feet) away, the passports were designed to incorporate a thin metal lining to make it more difficult for unauthorized readers to “skim” information when the passport is closed.
The passport card is a result of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative which requires citizens traveling between the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean or Bermuda by land or sea—including ferries—to present a valid U.S. passport.
ABI Research report on Near Field Communication report says more than 419 million NFC chipsets will ship in 2012.
State officials and some in Congress remain skeptical about new federal rules for driver’s licenses, even after major changes designed to cut the cost of those rules and provide more flexibility.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Friday (Jan. 11) released final rules for the Real ID Act of 2005, giving states nearly five extra years to verify the identity of an estimated 245 million drivers and reissue secure licenses to them.
The State and Homeland Security departments this week awarded more than $160 million in contracts for RFID cards to speed up border crossings.
The State Department awarded General Dynamics Information Technology a five-year $99.3 million contract for a radio frequency identification passport card that travelers can use at U.S. land border crossings and sea ports of entry. State officials said it expects to start issuing the new cards this spring.
General Dynamics will integrate the cards into the traditional process State uses to issue passports and also will provide the department with electronic chips, card stocks, printers and software.
In addition, DHS awarded Unisys a $62 million contract to provide the RFID equipment needed to read the new passport cards and to install technologies that can capture images of automobile license plates as travelers drive through Customs. The equipment will be installed at the busiest 39 land border ports. Unisys will begin work on the project this week.
Intermec will supply RFID readers for the border project and Perceptics will provide the license plate reader technology, said Tip Underwood, a partner with Customs and Maritime Security for Unisys Federal Systems.
The Perceptics license plate reader uses cameras and imaging software to automatically capture, identify and record the alphanumeric code, state or province of origin, and country of origin of a license plate.
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