Soon, we'll be going on holiday for the first time since my son was born. This means that we had to apply for a passport for my 2 year-old, which was a fun process. Anyway, the passport arrived this morning and much to my surprise it is a new biometric one, containing a little RFID Chip on the rear of the identification page. This is the first time that I have seen a new biometric passport. The notes that come along with it contain the following:-
"The chip stores a copy of your photo and the personal details printed on page 31. There is no extra personal information in the machine-readable zone or one the chip. The chip and antenna are sensitive electronic devices. Please protect your passport and the chip from damage. They must not be bent, torn or damaged in any way, or exposed to very high or very low temperatures, excess moisture, magnetic fields or microwaves."
I'll have to get one of these new passports soon. I travel to the US a lot and it will make my life easier as I'll be able to carry on using the Visa Waiver program once they change the regulations concerning entry to the US to mandate use of biometric passports. One thing is sure - I'll have to look after my new one a lot more, the current one is very bent and battered.
Apparently, if you pop in to your local passport office you can take a look at the data stored on the chip, which I might do when I get my own. If nobody is making wallets for these new passports, then they should be. There has to be a market in sturdy tin-foil lined wallets to keep the RFID chip from being broken and to stop the data being read until you want it to be...
And will it help stop terrorism?
...nope.
Now now Ben, you're not supposed to ask that question. Please sit in the corner quietly until the security services can come round and re-educate you.