[Infowarrior] - FW: Feds Release Pass Card details

[Richard Forno]

------ Forwarded Message

From: "Brock N. Meeks"
Date: December 31, 2007 4:13:01 PM EST
Subject: Feds Release Pass Card details

The government has dragged its feet in releasing the final details
about his Pass Card technology, and now they dump it into the Federal
Register on the last day of the year.

The government has decided to go with a technology that is more suited
to tracking inventory and can be read from up to 20 feet away.  Govt.
officials counter by saying privacy protections will be built into the
cards.

The AP filed this story today:

Passport card technology criticized
By EILEEN SULLIVAN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON -- Passport cards for Americans who travel to Canada,
Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean will be equipped with technology
that allows information on the card to be read from a distance.

The technology was approved Monday by the State Department and privacy
advocates were quick to criticize the department for not doing more to
protect information on the card, which can be used by U.S. citizens
instead of a passport when traveling to other countries in the western
hemisphere.

The technology would allow the cards to be read from up to 20 feet
away. This process only takes one or two seconds, said Ann Barrett,
deputy assistant secretary for passport services at the State
Department. The card would not have to be physically swiped through a
reader, as is the current process with passports.

The technology is "inherently insecure and poses threats to personal
privacy, including identity theft," Ari Schwartz, of the Center for
Democracy and Technology, said in a statement. Schwartz said this
specific technology, called "vicinity read," is better suited for
tracking inventory, not people.

The State Department said privacy protections will be built into the
card. The chip on the card will not contain biographical information,
Barrett said.

[snip]

As seen in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
http://www.star-telegram.com/464/story/384245.html