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US Passports To Recieve RFID Chips

Posted by Zonk on from the like-it-or-not-here-they-come dept.

connah0047 writes "The Washington Post reports that US passports will be getting RFID chips by October of 2006. Despite security concerns, the U.S. has now committed to putting RFID chips in the passports of all U.S. citizens. The new regulations will mean that all new and renewing U.S. passports will contain RFID chips by October 2006. While some believe this is a step forward, there are major privacy and security issues with the wireless technology."

5 of 309 comments (clear)

  1. the passports of all U.S. citizens by Tim+Ward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Eh??

    Last I heard most US citizens didn't have passports at all. Are passports really now going to be compulsory? Have the relevant back office systems really been scaled up to cope with this?

    (Hint: another name for a compulsory passport is an "identity card". These are things you get in places called "police states", of which a notable example is a place called "France".)

  2. technology vs. privacy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    I really don't understand the bitching about the privacy issues that you slashdotter do. At the same time you are the most eager to use new technology, but still don't want to improve public safety or ease of travelling.

    Do you really think it's better to have everything anonymous?
    You should know how much any machine readable technology makes live easier for everyone.

    Everybody knows how much good all means of identificating does. There are countless of example: finding out who is the owner of a gun, dental records for identifying you after accident, GSM location finder, etc.

    I know that the only concern is misuse of the information. There must be better ways of preventing the misuse than preventing the technology.

  3. I Am Canadian! by gotkube · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Just one more example of how I thank God every single day that I'm Canadian.

  4. It isn't RFID by John+Harrison · · Score: 1, Flamebait
    What's the point of RFID in a passport?

    Good question. Ask Zonk (or the submitter) since he seems to have invented it. Please note that there isn't RFID in these passports. Note that the article linked to never used the term. Only /. does. These are contactless smart cards, which have different implications than RFID. It would be nice to have a debate on the actual technology being used here rather than the RFID boogeyman that /. is so eager to chase.

    --
    Lasers Controlled Games!
  5. Re:If only they listened... by a+whoabot · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Donald Rumsfeld's knowledge that encouraging terrorism is good has long been known by millionaire and billionaire criminal types like him. This is why Israel state leaders funded the Islamic Authority and Hamas.

    Without terrorists, why would people hand their money over to people like Rumsfeld?