Update on the RFID (ARPHIDS) in our Passports

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeHere is Senator Dick Durbin's response to my question about the security of the RFID in new passports. I don't have one in my passport, so I can't test this out, but will continue to check into the matter.

October 22, 2008



Dear Ms. Iverson:

Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns about RFID chips in U.S. passports and the Department of Homeland Security's plans to compile data on all Americans who enter the United States through our land borders. I appreciate hearing from you and I understand your concern.

Protecting both the security and the freedom of the American people is among my highest priorities. We must ensure that the federal government defends the people of the United Statesfrom external threats while preserving the civil liberties that have helped make the United States the greatest and most enduring democracy in the world.

The RFID chips that are used in U.S. passports are protected by a shield that prevents access to the information contained on the chip. The information is only accessible when the passport is open and being scanned through a card reader.
Through my time in Congress, I have worked to protect the civil rights of all Americans. I have consistently opposed this Administration's warrantless surveillance program that I believe has violated the rights of American citizens. I also have been a vocal opponent of racial profiling in all situations - including in airports and at land border crossings - and I am a cosponsor of the End Racial Profiling Act (S. 2481).

Most recently, I, along with three other senators, wrote to Attorney General Michael Mukasey to express our concern about new guidelines that will govern the FBI's criminal, national security, and foreign intelligence investigations. I am particularly concerned about the use of intrusive investigative techniques used to assess threats. We must ensure that these guidelines do not permit long-term surveillance and monitoring of innocent Americans.

The Department of Homeland Security's program to keep records of all Americans who enter theUnited States through land borders raises similar concerns. I will monitor this program carefully and I will keep your views in mind as I continue to work to ensure that civil rights, privacy, and the rule of law are protected in our country.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please feel free to keep in touch.

Sincerely,
Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator

RJD/td

RFID Tags Not Good for your Security

Image via Wikipedia

Katherine Albrecht, a privacy advocate, has written an article in September's Scientific American, which is devoted to "Privacy,"detailing how the RFID chip in your clothes (or credit card, or passport) can be detrimental to your privacy.

This is a theme currentbuzz has touched on for many years. From cute "dog-tags" and bracelets in elementary school in Celebration, Fl, that let kids move from room to room without logging onto school computers each time, to casinos that watch for pilferage by money-counting employees, to the retailer who just might use the ubiquitous RFID tag to target sales to you, instead of simply using the tag for inventory control, each use of the tag without consideration of the power of these chips and the ease with which information can be read from them, puts us, the public, at risk.

"the risk: anyone with a readily available reader device—unscrupulous marketers, government agents, stalkers, thieves and just plain snoops—can also access the data on the licenses to remotely track people without their knowledge or consent. What is more, once the tag’s ID number is associated with an individual’s identity—for example, when the person carrying the license makes a credit-card transaction—the radio tag becomes a proxy for that individual. And the driver’s licenses are just the latest addition to a growing array of “tagged” items that consumers might be wearing or carrying around, such as transit and toll passes, office key cards, school IDs, “contactless” credit cards, clothing, phones and even groceries."

clipped from www.sciam.com Radio-frequency identi­fication (RFID) tags are embedded in a growing number of personal items and identity documents. Because the tags were designed to be powerful tracking devices and they typically incorporate little security, people wearing or carrying them are vulnerable to surreptitious surveillance and profiling.