Protected Passport Still Contains Unique ID
07 November, 2005
category: Corporate, Government, RFID
“By any measure, [optical data access control is] exemplary, and should serve as a role model for any RFID identity-document applications. Unfortunately, there’s still a problem.
RFID chips, including the ones specified for U.S. passports, can still be uniquely identified by their radio behavior. Specifically, these chips have a unique identification number used for collision avoidance. It’s how the chips avoid communications problems if you put a bagful of them next to a reader. This is something buried deep within the chip, and has nothing to do with the data or application on the chip.”