RFID in Passports
// November 3rd, 2005 // Technology Bits
I’ve been concerned and generally against RFID since the first time I heard about it. Maybe its because I know a little about security, or identity management, or hell even the way markketing in a digital world works. Anyway, our brilliant US State Department is planning a roll out of RFID in passports for October 2006.
From Wired, Fatal Flaw Weakens RFID Passport:
In 2004, when the U.S. State Department first started talking about embedding RFID chips in passports, the outcry from privacy advocates was huge. When the State Department issued its draft regulation in February, it got 2,335 comments, 98.5 percent negative. In response, the final State Department regulations, issued last week, contain two features that attempt to address security and privacy concerns. But one serious problem remains.
Good that they fixed a couple problems, but a ton more are certain to crop up. I feel my fears aren’t misplaced. I guess I’ll have to keep posting this negative RFID stuff to help promote awareness of this garbage.
2012 
[...] Currently a lot of work is going into getting RFID into US Passports. Most proposals so far have failed and we keep getting a delay on the inevitable here, but that’s one you won’t be able to zap. How long before state drivers licenses follow in those footsteps? [...]