Hypothetically, I wonder what would happen if the passport happened to be accidentally stored in close proximity to a large magnet?
I had a similar problem with my passport; I can’t believe they printed a whole page of information about me inside it - with my date of birth and everything, even a photograph. Needless to say I find this an intolerable intrusion, so I tore out that page - take that, big brother!
Ah, but someone would have to be in possession of your passport to obtain that information. For the RFID chip, someone could hypothetically scan it without it leaving your pocket.
As do some libraries, used for the same reason.
Who do you fear is actually going to do that? And having done so, what do you fear they will do with it?
Name and date of birth are two pieces of information that an identity thief would love to have. Someone with a cheap scanner at the airport can collect all sorts of potential targets. I don’t see much of an upside to this and see lots of potential downside.
You could buy a passport case that incorporates a Faraday cage specifically for this whole RFID thing. (Take a look around, though this was the cheapest price I could find for a “normal” looking passport case.)
You could make your own. Believe it or not aluminium foil should block RFID (it’s a weak signal). If you want something a little less “crinkly”, try one of those mylar bags that hardware comes in, as it should do the same thing. The mylar would probably be pretty easy to work in to a small case, so that it is completely inconspicuous.
Don’t disable the RFID. If it’s disabled and expected to be working, you risk getting an extra security screening (could make you late for your flight or something) smashing it with a hammer or scorching it with a microwave may leave telltale marks, which could get you in even more trouble… I seem to recall reading the max penalty is 25yrs in prison. Obviously you’re not going to get 25 years for hitting it with a hammer, but that’s not my point.
Your money, on the other hand… 
Those pieces of information are already quite freely available from other sources such as registry offices - even online. How is it a threat if someone can electronically collect information that is already available elsewhere?
From what I understand, not all US Passports currently have RFID devices installed.
How does one know?
On the three US passports in our house, they all look the same. I can not see any evidence of a RFID in the back cover of any of them.
I suppose I could scan one with a stud finder. That should pick up a RFID device.
Ok, so a little playing with my passport and a bit of digging online, here’s what I found out.
Firstly, there is an international symbol for “Biometric” passports. It’s located on the front cover, bottom center. It’s a solid rectangle with a circle in the middle. and a line coming off each side of the circle.
Kind of like this:
--------
|--O--|
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From what I understand, at this point, it is only sending a digital image in jpeg format of the image on your passport.
I’ve not been able to find out where the chip is located on a US passport - although one report I read said on the back cover.
My passport does not have this logo. Scanning my passport with a studfinder on the back cover results in nothing. The front on the other hand does - mostly over the picture. This might have something to do with the gold writing on the front cover of the passport.
:eek:
Ye gods! I better find my old passport (I’ve been planning to go to Mexico for the first time soon, but now I need the passport and I have no idea where it is–hell, I’m not sure what state it’s in). Is that why new passports are so expensive this year?
Come to think of it, I wonder if I can get a passport in Mexico, and how illegal that might or might not be. A friend of mine was talking a couple years back about taking a group to Mexico to get passports they could travel to Cuba with.
FWIW, my first semester in college I knew a guy with a fake ID from 3000 miles away with the scannable strip on the back; we bought some vodka or something and the cashier actually slid his card through the reader, and ended up selling him the alcohol! So I don’t know what’s on there, but apparently either it’s not very telling or it’s easy to fake.
That’s an angle I hadn’t thought of. At the very least you could probably get spammed somehow.
Har har, very funny, we get it. The difference is that someone has to actually get physical access to your passport to see that stuff, pre-RFID. That means you have to volunteer it or they have to use some level of force. Either way, you have at least a vague idea of who’s lookin’ at your details and why. How many people have access to RFID scanners in most places American tourists go? How many RFID scanners are on one commercially zoned London block?
Yes, I can’t think of any way that a person could get hold of a jpeg image of you just by being nearby.
Digital cameras! Of course! The kind that also record “biographical information”, right?
Do you have a cite stating that biographical information is included in the RFID transaction?
Post 6, Mangetout. But I imagine it’s the same “biographical info” in the passport page. The Guvmint may have my resume on file, but I really don’t know why would anybody other than my potential employers care what University I went to.
I don’t need a cite to feel odd about being tagged with an RFID emitter in foreign countries. Hell, I don’t even want to advertise being American in airports and foreign countries any more than I have to.
Or in your case, someone has to get physical access to your passport by the expedient of *finding * it, wherever it might be that you left it lying around for several years.
OK, the same site says that the information can’t be skimmed, because in order to access the data, you have to present a key, consisting of information physically printed inside the passport.