State to DHS: Take a pass on using long-range RFID

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

The State Department has learned the hard way over the past year that choosing long-range radio frequency identification for moving people across the border is fraught with peril. The hullabaloo over development of its electronic passport made that clear. Now, State officials are trying to pass those tough lessons on to the Homeland Security Department.

The State Department has learned the hard way over the past year that choosing long-range radio frequency identification for moving people across the border is fraught with peril. The hullabaloo over development of its electronic passport made that clear.Now, State officials are trying to pass those tough lessons on to the Homeland Security Department as the two agencies debate how to construct the People Access Security Services card. DHS officials, however, say they're determined to stick with RFID.Their determination to do so, however, faced a new obstacle last week as a DHS technical committee issued a report via the department's Privacy Office condemning the use of RFID technology to identify and track humans because of privacy and security concerns.State will issue the PASS card by January 2008 to U.S. citizens who frequently cross the borders with Canada and Mexico. It will help DHS meet the requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.'At the end of the day, we are colored by our experience with e-passport,' Frank Moss, deputy assistant secretary of State for passport services in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, said at a recent Smart Card Alliance conference in Arlington, Va.Privacy experts worried that someone equipped with a card reader close to the passport holder could intercept, or 'skim' personal data.Their concerns were featured in a draft report written by a DHS technical committee and issued by the department's Privacy Office that strongly condemned the use of RFID systems to identify and track people.The draft report, titled The Use of RFID for Human Identification, cited the privacy and security risks the technology poses. The report went on to propose specific security and privacy safeguards and best practices.The DHS Emerging Applications and Technology Subcommittee of the Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee, which drafted the report, said that RFID systems' small reduction of the time need to process people at checkpoints was far outweighed by the technology's privacy risks.Privacy concerns raised by nongovernmental organizations eventually drove State's Consular Bureau to reinforce the documents' data security.To foil interception of the personal data on the passports' RFID chips, State added an electrostatic shield and Basic Access Control, a means of securing the data transmission between the passport and reader.State started to roll out the new, better-secured passports last month to government employees and will issue them to other citizens starting in August, Moss said.Now, that same debate over security and privacy has moved to the PASS card.Basically, the PASS card would become a mini-passport for citizens who frequently cross the border. The wallet-sized identification card would let citizens move through quickly, without holding up traffic.Moss said State wants to issue a request for proposals in the next few months and start issuing cards this year. 'Ninety-five percent of the design of the cards is done,' he said. 'We want to start producing cards within the next nine months.'The point of contention is that DHS wants to use the RFID technology commonly used for supply chain logistics, in which a device can read the tags at a distance of 30 feet to 50 feet.But State is pushing for the short-range technology used in e-passports, based on contactless smart card technology.Jim Williams, director of DHS' U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program, has maintained that the technology State wants to use would take too much time and cause too much disruption at the borders.'If you add a few seconds to each person crossing the border, that adds up to hours a day,' Williams said, also at the Smart Card Alliance conference.Williams said he doesn't buy the argument that UHF RFID is less secure than contactless smart-card technology.'We are concerned about privacy and would put the card in a protective sleeve,' Williams said. 'We are putting a 96-digit random number that points to our database on the card. So someone would have to hack our database to find out your information.'

Data Security Issues: 'We are putting [in] a 96-digit random number that points to our database. ... Someone would have to hack our database to find out your information,' said Jim Williams of U.S. Visit.

Zaid Hamid










































Senior Writer Wilson P. Dizard III contributed to this story.

NEXT STORY: Too much for NSA to mine?

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.