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From: Bryan Brooks <bab74@columbia.edu>
To : <cpc@emoglen.law.columbia.edu>
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 10:28:14 -0400
New RFID travel cards could pose privacy threat
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By Declan McCullagh
http://news.com.com/New+RFID+travel+cards+could+pose+privacy+threat/2100
-1028_3-6062574.html
Story last modified Wed Apr 19 05:25:38 PDT 2006
advertisement
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ARLINGTON, Va.--Future government-issued travel documents may feature
embedded computer chips that can be read at a distance of up to 30 feet,
a top Homeland Security official said Tuesday, creating what some fear
would be a threat to privacy.
Jim Williams, director of the Department of Homeland Security's US-VISIT
<http://news.com.com/Feds+test+RFID+controls+at+U.S.+borders/2100-7348_3
-5823958.html?tag=nl> program, told a smart card conference here that
such tracking chips could be inserted into the new generation of
wallet-size identity cards used to ease travel by Americans to Canada
and Mexico starting in 2008. Those chips use radio frequency
identification technology, or RFID
<http://news.com.com/RFID+tags+Big+Brother+in+small+packages/2010-1069_3
-980325.html?tag=nl> .
"If you haven't been to some of our busiest land crossings, I always
refer to them as economic choke points...We ought to use technology to
improve that," said Williams, whose office operates the biometric
<http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dhs.gov%2Fdhspublic%2F
interapp%2Fcontent_multi_image%2Fcontent_multi_image_0006.xml&siteId=3&o
Id=/RFID+tags+Big+Brother+in+small+packages/2010-1069_3-980325.html&ontI
d=1023&lop=nl.ex> program used to verify that the fingerprint of a
person using a U.S. visa to cross a U.S. border matches that of the
person who was issued the visa.
Williams' remarks at an industry conference are likely to heighten
privacy concerns about RFID technology, which has drawn fire
<http://news.com.com/Privacy+advocates+call+for+RFID+regulation/2100-102
9_3-5065388.html?tag=nl> from activists and prompted hearings
<http://news.com.com/Tracking+tags+may+get+congressional+scrutiny/2100-1
008_3-5178859.html?tag=nl> before the U.S. Congress and the Federal
<http://news.com.com/FTC+to+explore+RFID+consumer+implications/2110-1001
_3-5190155.html?tag=nl> Trade Commission. One California politician has
even introduced anti-RFID
<http://news.com.com/California+lawmaker+introduces+RFID+bill/2100-1014_
3-5164457.html?tag=nl> legislation.
Many of the privacy
<http://news.com.com/RFID%2C+coming+to+a+library+near+you/2100-1012_3-54
11657.html?tag=nl> worries center on whether RFID tags--typically
miniscule chips with an antenna a few inches long that can transmit a
unique ID number--can be read from afar. If the range is a few inches,
the privacy concerns are reduced. But at ranges of 30 feet, the tags
could theoretically be read by hidden sensors alongside the road, in the
mall or in the hands of criminals hoping to identify someone on the
street by his or her ID number.
Williams defended a remotely readable RFID'ed identity card to audience
members who suggested selecting one that could be scanned from only a
few inches away. Border police oppose that idea because "they're
concerned about people dropping cards, about people sticking their hands
out the window," he said. "They don't think that meets their mission
needs"--that is, speeding up the border-crossing process.
Those forthcoming cards, called "PASS
<http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dhs.gov%2Fdhspublic%2F
display%3Ftheme%3D44%26content%3D5409%26print%3Dtrue&siteId=3&oId=/RFID%
2C+coming+to+a+library+near+you/2100-1012_3-5411657.html&ontId=1023&lop=
nl.ex> " (for People Access Security Service), are part of a federal
requirement that, starting Jan. 1, 2008, anyone entering the United
States from Mexico or Canada must carry a passport or "alternative"
travel document. Homeland Security envisions that document will take the
form of a "vicinity-read" wallet-size card that will capture information
from a distance and automatically display the cardholder's picture and
other biographic information on the border agent's computer screen.
Homeland Security has said, in a government
<http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fbo.gov%2Fservlet%2FDo
cuments%2FR%2F1239555&siteId=3&oId=/RFID%2C+coming+to+a+library+near+you
/2100-1012_3-5411657.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex> procurement notice
posted in September, that "read ranges shall extend to a minimum of 25
feet" in RFID-equipped identification cards used for border crossings.
For people crossing on a bus, the proposal says, "the solution must
sense up to 55 tokens."
The notice, unearthed by an anti-RFID advocacy group, also specifies:
"The government requires that IDs be read under circumstances that
include the device being carried in a pocket, purse, wallet, in
traveler's clothes or elsewhere on the person of the traveler....The
traveler should not have to do anything to prepare the device to be
read, or to present the device for reading--i.e., passive and automatic
use."
An internal agency spat?
But Homeland Security could run into some internal opposition in the
form of the State Department, which appears to be leaning toward the
"proximity" method instead of remotely readable RFID'ed identity cards.
"We think proximity read offers greater security protections," Frank
Moss, deputy assistant secretary of state for passport services, said
Tuesday. That method would also have a better chance of getting past the
scrutiny of privacy advocates in the requisite rule-making process,
added Moss, who joked that he had been labeled the "anti-Christ" by one
person who commented on the State Department's e-passport proposals.
RFID chips are already going to appear in U.S. passports starting in
October 2006, the Bush administration ruled last
<http://news.com.com/Passports+to+get+RFID+chip+implants/2100-7348_3-591
3644.html?tag=nl> October. And the possibility of RFID-implanted
drivers' licenses because of the Real ID Act has caused New Hampshire's
House of Representatives to disavow the proposal
<http://news.com.com/The+Real+ID+rebellion/2010-1028_3-6061578.html?tag=
nl> entirely.
Moss ticked off a list of reasons why Americans shouldn't be concerned
about the safety of RFID'ed passports any longer. He admitted the State
Department was wrong to claim last year that the e-passport chips could
be read within only 10 centimeters. He credited the scathing comments
from privacy watchdogs for the agency's decision to adopt two
safeguards: a cryptographic technique known as basic access control and
"antiskimming material" on the passport's front cover, which "greatly
complicates" the capture of data when the book is fully or mostly
closed, Moss said.
The government agencies said they need to reach an agreement on the RFID
technology they'll use in the next month so that they can begin
soliciting proposals from private firms for the chip's design. They hope
to begin producing the PASS cards no later than nine months from now,
Moss said.
"What we're putting in the card is possibly nothing but a 96-digit
serial number that is random and would do nothing but point back to a
database...someone would have to hack into our database at the same
time," Homeland Security's Williams said, adding that the agency is
considering delivering the cards in a "Mylar sleeve that would block the
technology when people aren't using it." They're also exploring using a
card that would have to be activated by the user, through a fingerprint
or some other biometric method, before any information could be read
remotely.
Bryan A. Brooks
Columbia Law School
Class of 2006
"True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to
see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring."
- MLK, Jr.
"Where purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable."
- Myles Munroe
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<p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3D3
face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'>By Declan McCulla=
gh<br>
<a
href=3D"http://news.com.com/New+RFID+travel+cards+could+pose+privacy+threat=
/2100-1028_3-6062574.html">http://news.com.com/New+RFID+travel+cards+could+=
pose+privacy+threat/2100-1028_3-6062574.html</a>
<br>
<br>
Story last modified Wed Apr 19 05:25:38 PDT 2006 <o:p></o:p></span></font><=
/p>
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12.0pt'><br>
<b><span style=3D'font-weight:bold'>ARLINGTON, Va.--Future government-issued
travel documents may feature embedded computer chips that can be read at a
distance of up to 30 feet, a top Homeland Security official said Tuesday,
creating what some fear would be a threat to privacy. </span></b><o:p></o:p=
></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'=
>Jim
Williams, director of the Department of Homeland Security's <a
href=3D"http://news.com.com/Feds+test+RFID+controls+at+U.S.+borders/2100-73=
48_3-5823958.html?tag=3Dnl"
title=3D"Feds test RFID controls at U.S. borders -- Monday, Aug 8, 2005">US=
-VISIT
program</a>, told a smart card conference here that such tracking chips cou=
ld
be inserted into the new generation of wallet-size identity cards used to e=
ase
travel by Americans to Canada and Mexico starting in 2008. Those chips use
radio frequency identification technology, or <a
href=3D"http://news.com.com/RFID+tags+Big+Brother+in+small+packages/2010-10=
69_3-980325.html?tag=3Dnl"
title=3D"RFID tags: Big Brother in small packages -- Monday, Jan 13, 2003">=
RFID</a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'=
>"If
you haven't been to some of our busiest land crossings, I always refer to t=
hem
as economic choke points...We ought to use technology to improve that,"
said Williams, whose office operates the <a
href=3D"http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.dhs.gov%2Fdhspub=
lic%2Finterapp%2Fcontent_multi_image%2Fcontent_multi_image_0006.xml&sit=
eId=3D3&oId=3D/RFID+tags+Big+Brother+in+small+packages/2010-1069_3-9803=
25.html&ontId=3D1023&lop=3Dnl.ex">biometric
program</a> used to verify that the fingerprint of a person using a U.S. vi=
sa
to cross a U.S. border matches that of the person who was issued the visa. =
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'=
>Williams'
remarks at an industry conference are likely to heighten privacy concerns a=
bout
RFID technology, which has drawn <a
href=3D"http://news.com.com/Privacy+advocates+call+for+RFID+regulation/2100=
-1029_3-5065388.html?tag=3Dnl"
title=3D"Privacy advocates call for RFID regulation -- Monday, Aug 18, 2003=
">fire
from activists</a> and prompted <a
href=3D"http://news.com.com/Tracking+tags+may+get+congressional+scrutiny/21=
00-1008_3-5178859.html?tag=3Dnl"
title=3D"Tracking tags may get congressional scrutiny -- Wednesday, Mar 24,=
2004">hearings</a>
before the U.S. Congress and the <a
href=3D"http://news.com.com/FTC+to+explore+RFID+consumer+implications/2110-=
1001_3-5190155.html?tag=3Dnl"
title=3D"FTC to explore RFID consumer implications -- Monday, Apr 12, 2004"=
>Federal
Trade Commission</a>. One California politician has even introduced <a
href=3D"http://news.com.com/California+lawmaker+introduces+RFID+bill/2100-1=
014_3-5164457.html?tag=3Dnl"
title=3D"California lawmaker introduces RFID bill -- Tuesday, Feb 24, 2004"=
>anti-RFID
legislation</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'=
>Many of
the <a
href=3D"http://news.com.com/RFID%2C+coming+to+a+library+near+you/2100-1012_=
3-5411657.html?tag=3Dnl"
title=3D"RFID, coming to a library near you -- Monday, Oct 18, 2004">privacy
worries</a> center on whether RFID tags--typically miniscule chips with an
antenna a few inches long that can transmit a unique ID number--can be read
from afar. If the range is a few inches, the privacy concerns are reduced. =
But
at ranges of 30 feet, the tags could theoretically be read by hidden sensors
alongside the road, in the mall or in the hands of criminals hoping to iden=
tify
someone on the street by his or her ID number. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'=
>Williams
defended a remotely readable <span class=3DSpellE>RFID'ed</span> identity c=
ard to
audience members who suggested selecting one that could be scanned from onl=
y a
few inches away. Border police oppose that idea because "they're conce=
rned
about people dropping cards, about people sticking their hands out the
window," he said. "They don't think that meets their mission
needs"--that is, speeding up the border-crossing process. <o:p></o:p><=
/span></font></p>
<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'=
>Those
forthcoming cards, called "<a
href=3D"http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.dhs.gov%2Fdhspub=
lic%2Fdisplay%3Ftheme%3D44%26content%3D5409%26print%3Dtrue&siteId=3D3&a=
mp;oId=3D/RFID%2C+coming+to+a+library+near+you/2100-1012_3-5411657.html&=
;ontId=3D1023&lop=3Dnl.ex">PASS</a>"
(for People Access Security Service), are part of a federal requirement tha=
t,
starting Jan. 1, 2008, anyone entering the United States from Mexico or Can=
ada
must carry a passport or "alternative" travel document. Homeland
Security envisions that document will take the form of a
"vicinity-read" wallet-size card that will capture information fr=
om a
distance and automatically display the cardholder's picture and other
biographic information on the border agent's computer screen. <o:p></o:p></=
span></font></p>
<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'=
>Homeland
Security has said, in a <a
href=3D"http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.fbo.gov%2Fservle=
t%2FDocuments%2FR%2F1239555&siteId=3D3&oId=3D/RFID%2C+coming+to+a+l=
ibrary+near+you/2100-1012_3-5411657.html&ontId=3D1023&lop=3Dnl.ex">=
government
procurement notice</a> posted in September, that "read ranges shall ex=
tend
to a minimum of 25 feet" in RFID-equipped identification cards used for
border crossings. For people crossing on a bus, the proposal says, "the
solution must sense up to 55 tokens." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'=
>The
notice, unearthed by an anti-RFID advocacy group, also specifies: "The
government requires that IDs be read under circumstances that include the
device being carried in a pocket, purse, wallet, in traveler's clothes or
elsewhere on the person of the traveler....The traveler should not have to =
do
anything to prepare the device to be read, or to present the device for
reading--i.e., passive and automatic use." <o:p></o:p></span></font></=
p>
<p><b><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0=
pt;
font-weight:bold'>An internal agency spat?</span></font></b><br>
But Homeland Security could run into some internal opposition in the form of
the State Department, which appears to be leaning toward the
"proximity" method instead of remotely readable <span class=3DSpe=
llE>RFID'ed</span>
identity cards. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'=
>"We
think proximity read offers greater security protections," Frank Moss,
deputy assistant secretary of state for passport services, said Tuesday. Th=
at
method would also have a better chance of getting past the scrutiny of priv=
acy
advocates in the requisite rule-making process, added Moss, who joked that =
he
had been labeled the "anti-Christ" by one person who commented on=
the
State Department's e-passport proposals. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'=
><!-- STORY TEASE --><newselement><newselement></newselement></newselement>=
RFID
chips are already going to appear in U.S. passports starting in October 200=
6,
the Bush administration <a
href=3D"http://news.com.com/Passports+to+get+RFID+chip+implants/2100-7348_3=
-5913644.html?tag=3Dnl"
title=3D"Passports to get RFID chip implants -- Tuesday, Oct 25, 2005">rule=
d last
October</a>. And the possibility of RFID-implanted drivers' licenses becaus=
e of
the Real ID Act has caused New Hampshire's House of Representatives to <a
href=3D"http://news.com.com/The+Real+ID+rebellion/2010-1028_3-6061578.html?=
tag=3Dnl"
title=3D"The Real ID rebellion -- Monday, Apr 17, 2006">disavow the proposal
entirely</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'=
>Moss
ticked off a list of reasons why Americans shouldn't be concerned about the
safety of <span class=3DSpellE>RFID'ed</span> passports any longer. He admi=
tted
the State Department was wrong to claim last year that the e-passport chips
could be read within only 10 centimeters. He credited the scathing comments
from privacy watchdogs for the agency's decision to adopt two safeguards: a
cryptographic technique known as basic access control and "<span
class=3DSpellE>antiskimming</span> material" on the passport's front c=
over,
which "greatly complicates" the capture of data when the book is
fully or mostly closed, Moss said. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'=
>The
government agencies said they need to reach an agreement on the RFID techno=
logy
they'll use in the next month so that they can begin soliciting proposals f=
rom
private firms for the chip's design. They hope to begin producing the PASS
cards no later than nine months from now, Moss said. <o:p></o:p></span></fo=
nt></p>
<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'=
>"What
we're putting in the card is possibly nothing but a 96-digit serial number =
that
is random and would do nothing but point back to a database...someone would
have to hack into our database at the same time," Homeland Security's
Williams said, adding that the agency is considering delivering the cards i=
n a
"Mylar sleeve that would block the technology when people aren't using
it." They're also exploring using a card that would have to be activat=
ed
by the user, through a fingerprint or some other biometric method, before a=
ny
information could be read remotely. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span style=3D'font-size:1=
0.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span style=3D'font-size:1=
0.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D=
'font-size:
12.0pt;mso-no-proof:yes'>Bryan A. Brooks<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D=
'font-size:
12.0pt;mso-no-proof:yes'>Columbia Law School<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D=
'font-size:
12.0pt;mso-no-proof:yes'>Class of 2006<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D=
'font-size:
12.0pt;mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D=
'font-size:
12.0pt;mso-no-proof:yes'>"True compassion is more than flinging a coin=
to
a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs rest=
ructuring."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D=
'font-size:
12.0pt;mso-no-proof:yes'>- MLK, Jr.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D=
'font-size:
12.0pt;mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D=
'font-size:
12.0pt;mso-no-proof:yes'>“Where purpose is not known, abuse is
inevitable.”<span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> </span><o:p></o:p=
></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D=
'font-size:
12.0pt;mso-no-proof:yes'>- Myles Munroe<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D=
'font-size:
12.0pt;mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D=
'font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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