Policy Podcast: Making a Passport

Under Secretary for Management Patrick F. Kennedy and State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack discuss the production process for creating a passport and its security features. For text transcript and more video, go to http://video.state.gov

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• passport
• security
• chip
• state
• department
• travel

[bluedragonxz]

when did the State department change the look of the passport? While looking at the one in the video and the one I have, albeit mine was issued in 2002 and doesn't expire until 2012, mine looks pretty different.

[statevideo]

@ bluedragonxz -- The change actually took place in 2006. Let us know if you have more questions.

[eddiedaskull]

@cw2992

that is not a good idea.It could catch on fire or explode in the micowave

[happy543210]

I guarantee you that "blue piece of plastic" is made in China! You can't beat the Chinese for cheap electronic devices. The question is weather the Chinese government would take the initiative to implant nefarious software in the chips for future use against the US.

Also, terrorist organizations can easily buy that "blue piece of plastic" and make their own fake passports so they can travel into the US and cause all kinds of destruction.

RFID is not secure and a complete waste of money.

[DudeGuyShow]

how much money do they spend on that O_O

[retiltxet]

thats not true.. the passport continues to remain valid if you destroy the chip..

There are even articles out there advocating hitting it with a hammer

[jojococoa]

i'm glad i got my passport just before the rfid chip became part of it.

what information is on those chips anyways?

[axoncanuck]

Remember, the RFID chip simply tells the border patrol computer how to access your record on their database. The chip itself does not contain any personal data.

To make it eve more secure, the ID number on the chip is encrypted by one of the most secure public algorithms ever made. A "brute force" hacking attempt would take the most powerful computers 100s of years to break.

[axoncanuck]

No amount of time in the microwave would destroy the RFID chip.

Also, if the chip is dead, your passport is no longer valid.

[cw2992]

is 1 minute in the microwave enough to destroy the chip?