Anyone have any pointers to non destructive methods of rendering Smart Chips unreadable? Just curious.
DCF On Mon, 1 Sep 2003, R. A. Hettinga wrote: > <http://dynamic.washtimes.com/print_story.cfm?StoryID=20030901-124025-4029r> > > The Washington Times > www.washingtontimes.com > > U.S. seeks OSCE pact on biometric passports > By Nicholas Kralev > Published September 1, 2003 > > > VIENNA, Austria - The United States, seeking to keep out terrorists and other > criminals, this week begins a major diplomatic effort to persuade 54 nations to > adopt biometric standards when issuing passports to their citizens. > Those standards, regulated by the International Civil Aviation Organization, > require every passport to have a machine-readable chip containing the owner's > digital photo, which is protected by a digital signature. > The Bush administration, hoping to minimize the complexity of negotiating > separate bilateral agreements with all countries in the world, plans to start with a > multilateral accord among the 55 members of the Organization for Security and > Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), U.S. diplomats said. > "It's a significant logistical job," Stephen M. Menekes, the U.S. ambassador to > the Vienna, Austria-based organization, said in an interview. "But it's here, all in > place, ready to be used." > Mr. Menekes said J. Cofer Black, the State Department's coordinator for > counterterrorism, "had the idea" when he attended an OSCE conference in June, "and > he walked out of here convinced that this was the way to go." > U.S. diplomats say they hope to sign an agreement at the Dec. 1-2 annual OSCE > ministerial meeting in the Dutch city of Maastricht, which would give the event a > sufficiently high profile to guarantee the presence of Secretary of State Colin L. > Powell. Mr. Powell skipped the meeting last year because of more pressing > responsibilities. > "What we are hopeful is to get a decision at the ministerial that all states > will commit to at least begin issuing passports with biometric data by December > 2005," said Katherine Brucker, a political officer at the U.S. mission to the OSCE. > She noted that 21 of the OSCE members - most of them European Union states - are > on the Visa Waiver program, which allows their citizens to enter the United States > for short periods without first obtaining a visa at an American consulate overseas. > "They will be obligated to start issuing biometric passports by Oct. 26, 2004, > if they want to stay in the program," she said. "They already said it's moving in > this direction." > In a paper to its fellow OSCE members outlining its proposal, the United States > said that "restricting the movement of terrorists and organized criminals is > imperative" in the global fight against terror. > "The ability of criminals to forge travel documents - or to falsely obtain > genuine ones - remains a serious and ongoing problem," says the document, a copy of > which was given to The Washington Times. > "Harmonized travel document security measures and features among OSCE > participating states would greatly enhance security throughout our region. More > effective and harmonized issuance standards and controls, combined with > bearer-specific security features, would greatly inhibit the movement of > terrorists," it says. > The Bush administration has been repeatedly accused abroad - particularly in > Europe - of pursuing a unilateral foreign policy and bullying other nations into > submitting to its wishes. > But Miss Brucker said the administration is "trying to identify ways a large > multinational organization can actually do something useful in the war on terror," > as in the case of OSCE. > "We've actually been quite successful," she said. "The OSCE operates on > consensus, and its decisions are only politically - not legally - binding, but > countries do take them seriously." > Soon after the September 11 attacks in 2001, the OSCE pledged to "prevent the > movement of terrorist individuals or groups through effective border controls and > controls on issuance of identity papers and travel documents, as well as through > measures for ensuring the security of identity papers and travel documents and > preventing their counterfeiting, forgery or fraudulent use." > > > > > Copyright � 2003 News World Communications, Inc. All rights > reserved. > Return to the article > > -- > ----------------- > R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> > The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> > 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA > "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, > [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to > experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Cryptography Mailing List > Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
