Technobabble
Get Ready for High Tech Passports
By Staff and Wire Reports
Aug 11, 2005, 00:13

The United States will begin issuing electronic passports in December to help tighten border and identity security, the State Department said Tuesday.

A computer chip will be embedded in passport covers and will hold the same information that is written on the inside: name, date of birth, gender, place of birth, dates of passport issuance and expiration, passport number and a photo. The chip will also have a unique digital signature designed to protect the data from tampering.

The chips will have technology to prevent unauthorized reading, or "skimming," of the data.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge had suggested that fingerprinting technology be used in the high-tech passports, but that was not included.

By October 2006, all U.S. passport agencies will issue the electronic passports.

© Copyright 2005 Capitol Hill Blue

Fair Use Notice
This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.