e-Passports Go High-Tech
New Travel Documents Expedite Process of Distribution, Decrease Fraud
The Signal - Business Section, October, 2006
Online electronic conveniences are everywhere, from e-mailing to e-tailing. The travel industry is no exception. Next, soon to arrive via the e-commerce superhighway is the e-passport.
Now this is convenient. Replacing the traditional visit to the post office to submit a passport application and wait weeks for it to arrive, the e-passport can be processed right away and handed to the traveler in a day. The e-passport looks similar to a current passport, but is embedded with a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip that contains a photo and the same information about the holder as the non-electronic version passport. The data on the new passports is read by a special decoder, and is much more difficult to falsify or tamper with than a traditional passport. Experts predict that total conversion to e-passports will happen by mid-2007.
The first state to begin issuing the new documents was Colorado. Since starting in August, thousands of new passports have been distributed. Officials there say the process has been speedy and efficient, and will help manage the expected spike in requests and renewals when the new passport requirement takes effect in January. The law states that anyone traveling by air and sea to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda must have a passport to re-enter the United States. Washington will be next to start processing e-passports in November.
As with any new technology, there are the skeptics who oppose the e-passport out of concern for privacy issues and increased vulnerability to identity theft. But according to state officials, the new passport is actually more secure because the digital information and photo on the RFID chip is attached in a secure environment by a small staff of experts. Tampering the new document is easily detected by the decoder that reads the passport, and will help prevent forgery. Since the RFID chips contain the same data as a regular passport, there is no increase in the risk of identity theft. Also, as these e-passports become mainstream, every port of entry will begin scanning passports with the special decoders. This is sure to speed up the process of going through customs worldwide, but so much for collecting passport stamps.
By definition a passport is “an internationally recognized travel document that verifies the identity and nationality of the bearer.” It is issued by the U.S. Department of State and must be periodically updated over the years to remain valid. This still holds true for an e-passport. It’ll just be quicker and easier to obtain a modern-day passport with today’s new technology.
But e-passport or no-e-passport, the key is to plan ahead to avoid the rush to get, renew, or replace one at the end of the year. Technologically advanced is great, but if you don’t have a passport when traveling abroad next year, you will not get very far. More specifically, you’ll not be let back into the United States without a current passport.
So prepare for something new. The electronic passport, it’s e-asy, e-fficient and e-xactly what we need to travel the global superhighway, even without the cool passport stamps.
For more information
contact Nicole Stinson, Public Relations
(310) 312-3368
