Biometric passports, RFID credit cards, and RFID technology

RFID Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has emerged in recent years and its applications continue to grow. This technology allows for a device to emit an identifying signal, while an RFID reader can read the signal.

RFID technology has been used in manufacturing and business for years. For example, those little weird looking metal tags on CDs, electronics, and such at large stores are an RFID chip used to prevent stealing. RFID chips have been used for years also to maintain inventory in warehouses and on store shelves. They help ensure stores are never under-stocked. Also, mail services use them to monitor package or mail whereabouts (this is how FedEx knows where your package is, because at every stop along the way to your house, there are RFID readers).

Radio frequency devices are also used for payment in many public transportation and bridge situations (e.g. PayPass and FasTrak for the New York City subway system and San Francisco Bay Area bridges, respectively).

Mastercard, American Express, and Visa have already started issuing RFID-enabled credit cards. These RFID-cards allow the user to waive their card up to four inches from to a reader to purchase goods.

So, as you can imagine, this is an extremely helpful technology. In the immediate future, there are many people who want to embed identity cards (like driver's licenses and passports) with RFID chips. These chips will presumably include personally identifying information including photo identification.

In fact, United States passports have already begun being issued with RFID chips. Many security, civil liberty, and travel experts pointed out that this was a horrible idea because those with the right RFID readers (or perhaps modified readers) can view and possibly steal personal information.

For example, if Americans tourists had their passports with them (as travelers are always supposed to) and were in a crowded group at some tourist destination, say the Louvre in Paris... someone with the appropriate RFID reader could single them out.

This might not be a huge concern in a high security area such as the Louvre, but imagine if the environment was Cairo, Egypt. Possible terrorist groups or kidnappers could view tourists' nationalities and single them out for attacks.

I've recently viewed a presentation on YouTube by a concerned citizen group. The group created an explosive device that is set to explode solely by the national signature on a passport. This national signature is the digital signature or format features of a specific country's passport. That is, if the passport is even one inch open, a reader less the two feet away stands a good chance of reading it. So now imagine a person with their passport partially opened in purse, who happens to walk by a common garbage can or mail box that has an explosive planted in it. You do the math.

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