Big Brother Will Rub His Hands in Glee Over New Passports
ph. On October 4th Bruce Schneier, a security technologist, published an article, 'Passport radio chips send too many signals', in the International Herald Tribune. According to him the Bush administration's Department of Homeland Security wants machine-readable passports, worldwide. Embedded in these passports will be a computer chip (radio frequency identity chips) containing information about the bearer which can be read from a distance.
"Unfortunately, RFID chips can be read by any reader, not just the ones at passport control. The upshot of this is that travelers carrying around RFID passports are broadcasting their identity . . . their name, nationality, age, address and whatever else is on the RFID chip. . .It means that pickpockets, kidnappers and terrorists can easily - and surreptitiously - pick Americans or nationals of other participating countries out of a crowd."
http://www.currentconcerns.ch/archive/2004/05/20040504.php