Originally Posted by
jkhuggins
Disclaimer: I'm not advocating one position or another on this issue. But I've read up on it quite a bit.
While the RFID tag may not have any personal information on it ... it is still a unique ID being broadcast to anyone with a scanner. Experiments have shown that such RFID tags can be surreptitiously read from a considerable distance.
There are at least two scenarios that could give someone pause, depending on your level of paranoia.
- Relatively few countries issue RFID passports; those that do tend to be the more affluent countries. In a large crowd, someone with an RFID scanner could use a scanner to target citizens of those affluent countries for theft (or worse), since they'd be more likely to be carrying valuables.
- Sure, the RFID number doesn't contain any personal information. Neither does your Social Security number (other than state of issuance). Yet, because of overuse, the Social Security number has become associated with a great deal of personal information regarding the bearer --- so much so that one should never share the number with anyone who doesn't need it for an officially-sanctioned purpose. RFID numbers could end up in the same situation ... except that, as noted above, RFID tags can be scanned without the bearer's knowledge.
In regards to the second point: The RFID value that is returned does not equal any value on the front/back of the card. It is basically a random number that is matched using a database when one approaches a US border. So the likelihood that this value would be tied to anything important is highly unlikely (as at a border crossing, the card would still be inspected and the photo in the database could be retrieved). Also, I think this value changes every time a new card is issued, again lessening its use.
As to the RFID. The PP card's RFID is not the same as what an e-passport uses (those use wireless smart cards). I.e. an RFID chip always returns the same value when queried. But a wireless smart card is actually a fully functional CPU that exchanges data and communicates with a reader.
That all being said, I do see one other problem with the PP card. Tracking. Namely, since the RFID chip always returns the same value, a "bad person" (or the government) could install RFID readers throughout a building, city, state, etc and track the movements of that person. Combining that with video footage, credit card transactions, TDCs, etc and that RFID number could then be matched back to a person.