New Passport Card Could Weaken Security and Privacy

A final rule was released by the Department of State for the new "passport card," which will go into effect on February 1, 2008. According to the report this passport card is taking into account an amendment to the "2007 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act calling for the availability of a passport card for land and sea travel between the United States and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda." This "passport card" will use "vicinity read" radio frequency identification (RFID) without the use of encryption. A unique ID number is stored on the card, which links to the personal information of the card holder in government databases. An optional sleeve can be obtained to protect these cards from RF signals.