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[bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>]

This is a new article on some new machines being added (one at the border in 
my homestate).  My wife just ordered her new passport, and even though she 
had her old passport with her (and the gov't took it) the application / 
interview was much more intensive than in the past.  When she receieves it, 
it will be rfid embedded.  Mine comes up very soon.

This excerpt in the article stood out " Consumer privacy expert Katherine 
Albrecht says the chips create the "potential for a whole surveillance 
network to be set up." She says police could use them to find criminals, 
abusive husbands to find their wives, and stores to track customers."....




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A U.S. government official places a new U.S. passport with an embedded 
electronic chip into a book printer. 
 

 
Agents along the Canada and Mexico borders are using a controversial new 
machine that can "read" the personal information contained in some 
government-issued ID cards — such as passports and driver's licenses — as 
travelers approach a checkpoint.

The Homeland Security Department says the new practice will tighten security 
and speed the flow of traffic. Privacy advocates say the technology could 
make Americans less secure because terrorists or other criminals may be able 
to steal the personal information off the ID cards remotely.

"There's this strange rush to a fancy or shiny new technology," says Lee Tien 
of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The cards "are quite vulnerable" to 
being cloned or having their codes broken.

Machines are in place at five crossings — Blaine, Wash.; Buffalo; Detroit; 
Nogales, Ariz.; and San Ysidro, Calif. — as part of the government's 
requirement that anyone who crosses the border must show a passport or other 
government documents proving citizenship and identity. The machines are being 
activated in Buffalo today; machines in Blaine and Nogales are in use; the 
rest will be on line over the next couple of months.

The new technology is being used in conjunction with new government 
passports, passcards and driver's licenses embedded with computer chips that 
contain the holder's name, date of birth, nationality, passport or ID number 
and a digitized photo. The personal data can be "read" by a Radio Frequency 
Identification (RFID) machine as the person approaches a border-crossing 
checkpoint.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Washington | California | Canada | Mexico | New York | 
US State Department | Idaho | Homeland Security Department | Border 
Protection | Electronic Frontier Foundation | Blaine | Ariz. | San Ysidro | 
Katherine Albrecht | Lee Tien | Radio Frequency Identification 
By the time a car stops at the Customs booth, the agent will have the photos 
and information of everyone in the car. If a name is on a watch list or 
database, the person will be taken in for questioning. The system will be 
"more efficient," says Thomas Winkowski of Customs and Border Protection.

Privacy-rights advocates warn that terrorists or other criminals can use 
their own machines in a process called "skimming" to read the information 
from as far as 50 feet. Consumer privacy expert Katherine Albrecht says the 
chips create the "potential for a whole surveillance network to be set up." 
She says police could use them to find criminals, abusive husbands to find 
their wives, and stores to track customers.

Homeland Security says the chips are made not to reveal personal information 
to machine readers — just a code, that then shows the information on the 
border agents' screen. The cards also come with protective sleeves for when 
they're not in use.

The border crossing ID requirement takes effect in June. So far, 600,000 
State Department passcards and 40,000 embedded licenses from Washington state 
and New York have been issued.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2008-11-23-passport-chips_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip