US Department of Homeland Security Should Act to Allay the Public's e-Passport Security Concerns RFID

ABI: Fueled by inaccurate speculation, a tide of popular concern is rising about the security of the new e-passports the United States government will begin issuing to its citizens next month. The Department of Homeland Security should speak out to reassure the public about the safety of the contactless technologies at the heart of the electronic travel documents. There are uneducated claims being made by some privacy advocates. They make claims such as, ‘if you have a contactless chip in your passport they can track you everywhere and they'll know everything about you.' This is simply not true, and the DHS should publicly explain what the technology is capable of, and why it is secure. Not all those who question the appropriateness of contactless technology for personal identification are so extreme. The Emerging Applications and Technology Subcommittee of the DHS's Full Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee recently issued a draft report which stated, RFID appears to offer little benefit when compared to the consequences it brings for privacy and data integrity . . . we recommend that RFID be disfavored for identifying and tracking human beings. In response, the Smart Card Alliance pointed out that not all RFID systems are alike, and that the DHS committee should include these differences clearly within the [final] report and conduct separate analyses of contactless smart cards and longer-range RFID technology. Initially the US e-passport design had just one Basic Access Control to unlock the encrypted information in the chip. In response to criticism, the government has added a Faraday cage: metal shielding built into the passport's covers, so it can only be read when opened. The contactless vendors in this market have a long history of providing secure technology. Contactless technology is a short-range technology. There aren't readers or infrastructure everywhere capable of tracking e-passport holders. We don't think these debates—or the subcommittee's report—will have a significant impact on the issuing of the passports next month, however it may raise concerns in the long term for other ID document applications. We feel that the DHS should take steps to mitigate public concerns today. ABI Research's study, RFID and Biometrics for worldwide Government Security Markets Publ 20060725