Passports to get RFID chip implants

You probably already knew that people hated the idea of RFID in passports, but now there's some data to back it up!

2019 comments listed security and/or privacy; 171 listed general objections to use of the data chip and/or the use of RFID; 85 listed general objections to use of the electronic passport; 52 listed general technology concerns; and 8 listed religious concerns. Overall, approximately 1% of the comments were positive, 98.5% were negative, and .5% were neither negative nor positive.

Oh, but these surveys aren't done to decide on whether or not we should adopt RFID into our passports, they're only a way to make us feel like we might have an impact. The Bush administration is going right ahead with this plan, and they have eery 1984 plans to adopt iris and fingerprint scanning technology.

All U.S. passports will be implanted with remotely-readable computer chips starting in October 2006, the Bush administration has announced.

Sweeping new State Department regulations issued Tuesday say that
passports issued after that time will have tiny radio frequency ID
(RFID) chips that can transmit personal information including the name, nationality, sex, date of birth, place of birth and digitized photograph of the passport holder. Eventually, the government contemplates adding additional digitized data such as "fingerprints or iris scans."

Over the last year, opposition to the idea of implanting RFID chips in passports has grown amidst worries that identity thieves could snatch personal information out of the air simply by aiming a high-powered antenna at a person or a vehicle carrying a passport.

[ Link via boingboing via politech ]