When you hear that your mind might dart to thoughts of Big Brother and hackers potentially stealing your personal information. This chip is embedded inside the cover of all passports issued since and carries a copy of the personal contact information found on the photo page of your passport. No one is going to be able to access sensitive information such as your FBI file or your tax returns simply by scanning your passport. There are fears from some people that criminals may try and steal your contact information directly from the RFID chip in your passport.
In reality, this is very unlikely to happen. According to the Bureau of Consular Affairs, your passport cover would have to be wide open in order for someone to be able to scan your passport. As long as your passport is in your pocket, bag, or in a secured area, no one should be able to scan your passport.
RFID chips were put into place to improve the security of your information and to help prevent fraud. Believe it or not, RFID chips and microchips are actually very commonly used around the world — not just in the United States.
Furthermore, there are similar microchips that are found in credit cards which contain a whole lot more information than the information found on the chip located in your passport. Since , Swift Passport and Visa Services has been the go-to choice for busy travelers in need of expedited passports and visas. Swift has some of the highest customer ratings and reviews in the industry, and with a network of partnerships nationwide, Swift Passport Services can reach clients in all 50 states.
Swift is authorized by the US Department of State and has access to all foreign consulates nationwide in six major cities. Our team of experts would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Sign up for basic membership for free here. Search for:. Subscribe Login Search. Handling Holiday Fulfillment Ed.
Note: This article was previously posted at Retail TouchPoints. Labor shortages, stressed s More Best Practices ». More Case Studies ». FEC has gained full visibility into its work-in-p More Features ». More How-To Articles ». RFID technology seems ideal. A small chip can carry enough information to make it impossible for a person to falsify their identity. Photographs, fingerprints, and detailed documents can be encoded in the chips. A person can change the photograph on their passport, but they cannot change their fingerprints to match forged fingerprints contained on memory chips.
Even more information can be stored, such as retina scans, three-dimensional computer modeling of a persons face, dental records and even, theoretically, DNA sequencing of the individual.
RFID chips issued by the U. Originally it was not a consideration, but in the past 18 months it has become an accepted, necessary feature. In most countries. But some, such as Ireland and Germany , have not yet implemented an encryption policy. More interesting is the debate about how close a scanner must be to read the information on a biometric identification chip. For years it was maintained that several inches, up to "at most" three feet approximately one meter , was the maximum range information could be read.
Just this summer it was clearly demonstrated that Irish passports with RFID chips could be read at nearly twenty feet about six meters. With current technology. Britain has now announced that it will accelerate its biometric identification program. The UK was targeting visas and travel documents for people coming into Britain from "high-risk" countries. Now plans are being developed to add fingerprint data to the identification profile, and the chips will be incorporated into passports issued to British citizens overseas.
Beginning in , all travelers across the U.
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