Re: [Texascavers] For those of you who are crossing the border...

[Rod Goke]

The most dangerous aspect of this in my opinion is the use of RFID chips in passports and other documents, since these chips can be read without your knowledge at any time by anyone within range with a suitable RFID reader, even when your documents are stored out of sight in your pocket or luggage. In principle, it should be possible to store your passport or other RFID equipped documents inside a special envelope or case designed to act like a Faraday cage, blocking any radio frequency signals traveling to or from the RFID chip. I've heard some discussion that envelopes of this type might be provided with the new RFID equipped passports, but have not checked into this, since I still have a valid old passport with no RFID chip. Have any of you had any experience with special passport envelopes or other packaging designed to prevent surreptitious detection and reading of RFID chips? The closest experience I've had with a similar issue was during the late 1990s with a credit card sized access card that was provided to me by my employer to access the building where I worked. The access card apparently contained an RFID chip or some similar wireless technology, since it did not have to be inserted into a reader but could activate the automatic door lock simply by holding the access card near the reader. Normally, I carried this card in my wallet and used it for after hours access to my office. The problem, however, was that this access card also would trigger the anti-theft alarm at a local Target store whenever I walked through the scanner at their door. The Target security guard didn't suspect me of shoplifting, since the alarm went off immediately whenever I entered the store, but it was a nuisance for both of us, since we'd have to waste time verifying that my access card was the cause every time it triggered the alarm. One night the security guard gave me a special card designed to eliminate this problem. It was a card about the size of a credit card or business card and it appeared to be made of thick paper, similar to a business card. I suspect, however, that this paper contained some kind of electrically conductive material designed to shield against whatever electromagnetic signals were used by their reader. All I had to do was to place this card next to my access card in my wallet, and as long as I carried the 2 cards next to each other, there were no more false alarms. Rod -----Original Message----- From: Louise Power Sent: Sep 10, 2009 1:33 PM To: Texas Cavers Subject: [Texascavers] For those of you who are crossing the border... ...thanks for your cooperation. You've cut our harassment time substantially.   Program to track citizen border crossings exceeds expectations By Jill R. Aitoro 09/09/2009 A security initiative to track citizens of countries that border the United States as they enter and leave the states by land and sea has surpassed expectations, a Homeland Security Department official said on Wednesday. On June 1, the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative began requiring citizens from the United States, Canada, Mexico and Bermuda to show a passport or other approved document when entering and leaving U.S. ports by land or sea. The rule has applied to air travelers since January 2007. "So far results are extremely impressive and definitely exceeding my expectation," Colleen Manaher, director of the WHTI program, said at the Gov 2.0 Summit in Washington. She dismissed criticism reported in USA Today that the program hurt communities that are dependent on tourism revenue. DHS' Customs and Border Protection reported a 93 percent compliance rate the first day the bureau began checking documents at land and sea borders, Manaher said. After the first week, CBP reported 95.7 percent compliance, and now, three months after rolling out the requirement, compliance remains steady at 95.6 percent nationwide. The new system, which cut the number of documents accepted at land and sea borders from hundreds down to six -- including U.S. passports, U.S. passport cards and enhanced driver's licenses -- has shaved as many as eight seconds off the verification process. Twenty-three percent of all documents presented are enabled with radio frequency identification technology, Manaher said, which allows border agents to verify a traveler's identity by electronically matching an ID number stored on the RFID chip with biographical information in a secure database. CBP officials said they hope to see the use of RFID-enabled documents increase. "This translates into time savings for every [citizen]," Manaher said, because less time is required to review and verify the authenticity of documents. CBP is trying to identify areas that need improvement, and targeting markets with lower compliance to educate citizens about the requirements. The agency also launched an education campaign for the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., to ensure U.S. citizens are prepared to comply with the program as they cross the border into Canada. "CBP will remain committed to working with travelers; we also believe education is a far better strategy than hammering on enforcement," Manaher said. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com