Fergie's Tech Blog

U.S. State Department Launches e-Passports, Rejects Security Concerns

The State Department started pilot production of electronic passports earlier this month and plans to roll out e-passports for the general public this summer, officials said.

The senior official in charge of the project also said that technical issues raised recently about e-passport security would not prevent the general distribution of the documents.

Frank Moss, deputy assistant secretary of State for consular affairs, said in an interview this morning that the department is using e-passport technology provided by Infineon Technologies North America Corp. of San Jose, Calif.

Moss said Infineon’s components for the e-passport have been approved by National Institute of Standards and Technology testing. The company provides contactless chip radio-frequency identification device technology that stores biographical data in machine readable form.

Infineon’s chip and a small antenna are embedded in the passport cover, which also includes a metal shield to prevent eavesdropping on data flowing from the passport to the reading machine.

posted by Fergie @ 2/27/2006 11:16:00 AM