US Readies E-Passports Despite Security Warning

The US State Department is all set to issue E-passports to its citizens this week, despite warnings from experts that the step may pose a security threat to the nation. The E-passports to be issued to American travelers contain Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips which are meant to reduce the chances of forged documents and lesser paperwork. According to a new program, E-passports will be processed first, at the Denver Passport Office and will be in full production through 17 passport facilities across the country by mid-2007. Frank Moss, deputy assistant secretary for passport services reportedly said that the State Department had successfully beta-test the electronic passports over the past year. He added that since all personal information on a chip must precisely match that in the printed portion of the electronic passport, it reduces the changes of forgery. Also, if an electronic passport is stolen, the chip can be tracked by law enforcement agencies anywhere in the world via a unique identifying number. However, experts say that since the technology requires co-ordination between the silicon chips and antennae to access data, it could be “skimmed,” or read remotely without the bearer’s knowledge. Moreover, the RFID can give access to IDs easily, making it simpler to hack into passports. Moreover, The Inquirer has reported that Britain’s high-tech biometric passport system can be easily hacked into, as claimed by Lukas Grunwald, to transfer data onto blank chips, which could then be implanted in fake passports.