New US e-passports with RFID
Apparently the US government in an effort to speed up the security checks in airports, decided to implement a system with RFID tags on passports readable from 20 feet away. This will benefit those traveling from the US to areas near by such as Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean and it will come in effect some time in spring 2008. Even though this system is designed to benefit passengers, many fear that the RFID tags may become readable by”others” with the purpose of cloning passports or identity theft.
There are some that will tell you that you should hammer the RFID chip on your passport and destroy not only that but also to protect your personal data. Something tells me that this is not legal and if the police finds out you might end in trouble. There is a legal method to protect your self and that is by a RFID passport protector/blocker found. More on the passport covers here.
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I’ve used this company for putting a sleeve over my passport and driver’s license.
http://idstronghold.com/
They’re a bit expensive in my mind, and they don’t block magnetic ID cards like those made by HID, but magnetic vs radio frequency id is different technology anyway.
Interesting post. Since Oct. 2006 all passports have had the RFID chips. I haven’t heard of a single incident of Hijacking the chips. Even if they are hijacked the ST. Dept insures that all they will get are numbers. The numbers are associated with a file in a secure database. My company has posted several post on the RFID chip and also the new passport card that will be coming out soon. Click my name and you can see the posting and other travel related articles.
While no actual hijacking has made news yet, I believe that it is merely a matter of time before enough of these remotely readable chips start floating around to make them a too-attractive target for skimming. After all, no one considered email spam and viruses to be issues in 1994 either.
Some other companies make products that will help to keep your private data safe:
http://www.rfid-shield.com/ - attractive but with a price to match - the iMac of sleeves
http://www.difrwear.com/ - protected wallets
http://www.emvelope.com/ - a slightly different approach
http://www.emvelope.com/ - a slightly different take