US Government To Release Electronic Passport

XueCast writes "The federal government has announced that they will release new electronic Passport cards in either April or May 2008. The cards could be read wirelessly from up to 20 feet away, which could reduce the waiting time at border checkpoints. Deputy Assistant Secretary Of State For Passport Services, Ann Barrett said, "As people are approaching a port of inspection, they can show the card to the reader, and by the time they get to the inspector, all the information will have been verified and they can be waved on through.""

Comments

My cock!

[Anonymous Coward]

It is smelly! Just like yours, CRITERION!!!

One feature I want in an electronic passport:

[Anonymous Coward]

Automatic nigger rejection. We imported enough of 'em several hundred years ago. Keep America Clean!

Please do a demo with Paintball paint

[Anonymous Coward]

Could someone please do a demo of this which uses paintball paint. It's something which would be really clear about the risks to the media and at the same time wouldn't require us to wait until this is done to real people in real life.

Re:Awesome

[Anonymous Coward]

Australians have had to use RFID-embedded passports for the past couple of years to comply with US regulations. Can't say it's sped up my travels at all.

Complete BS. The requirements to remain in the US Visa Waiver programme are a Machine Readable Zone and a digital photograph, both of which have been standard in Australian Passports for over a decade. It says so right on the page you've linked.

Re:Awesome

[arivanov]

That is not interesting. There are cheaper ways of doing it.

Now rigging in a bomb that will kill only a specific passport holder +/- collateral damage is a temptation that many people out there will find hard to resist.