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Cruising Fisherman's Wharf For New Passports' Serial Numbers

Posted by timothy on from the sub-exactly-because-for-even-though dept.

schwit1 writes "Fox News has an AP story on a hacker in San Francisco driving around and needing as little as 20 minutes to be successful in acquiring a passport number: 'Zipping past Fisherman's Wharf, his scanner detected, then downloaded to his laptop, the unique serial numbers of two pedestrians' electronic US passport cards embedded with radio frequency identification, or RFID, tags. Within an hour, he'd "skimmed" the identifiers of four more of the new, microchipped PASS cards from a distance of 20 feet. ... Meanwhile, Homeland Security has been promoting broad use of RFID even though its own advisory committee on data integrity and privacy warned that radio-tagged IDs have the potential to allow "widespread surveillance of individuals" without their knowledge or consent.'"

6 of 276 comments (clear)

  1. Gosh... by feepness · · Score: 3, Funny

    If only these same people who secured my passport were in charge of my healthcare as well, then everything would be great!

  2. WHAT!? by anonieuweling · · Score: 2, Funny

    You mean that RFID actually works!?


    Yes, but do we really need it in passports and identification cards?

  3. Re:Nothing to worry about... by aclarke · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm Canadian and went to renew my passport on Friday. My existing passport was still valid for a couple more weeks, but the woman across the desk thought it was expired as her machine didn't read it. She told me this, and I explained to her with a straight face that maybe that was because I'd microwaved my passport (I hadn't really).

    She didn't get the joke, which was just as well I suppose.

    --

    www.clarke.ca
  4. 'even though' should read 'because' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "Meanwhile, Homeland Security has been promoting broad use of RFID even though its own advisory committee on data integrity and privacy warned that radio-tagged IDs have the potential to allow "widespread surveillance of individuals" without their knowledge or consent." -> 'even though'?! Should read 'because'.

  5. Re:Security by kamapuaa · · Score: 3, Funny

    I think it's even stranger that Slashdot has a totally different idea of the meaning of "cruising Fisherman's Wharf" than I do. My version has more sailors involved.

    --
    Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
  6. Re:Security by beckett · · Score: 2, Funny

    i'm just surprised Americans have passports at all.