DHS selects RFID for PASS Card program
Despite privacy concerns, DHS believes RFID will expedite border crossing by allowing agents to identify passengers before they arrive at the guardhouse; trend shows RFID a government favorite for border crossing initiatives, but RF contactless has the upper hand for government IDs and e-passports
The uncertainty over whether the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) PASS Card would use RFID or RF contactless technology has been resolved in favor of the former, DHS confirmed this week. The decision is certain to upset privacy activists who believe that RFID, which can be read at distances of up to thirty feet, is extremely vulnerable to security breaches, but DHS had to make a trade-off. In the same way that license plate scanners at the Mexican border help identify cars before they reach the guardhouse, RFID will allow border agents to identify passengers long before they present their documents. Every year, 1.1 million people enter the U.S. from Mexico and Canada, and DHS hopes the new system will make the process a little less unruly at the same time it makes its more secure.
Despite the fears of the ACLU and other privacy groups, the wallet-sized cards will not contain any personal information. Intead, a serial number will be used to pull up personal information from the DHS computers. Card holders will also be issued a protective sleeve for the card, preventing transmission of the RFID signal while the card is in the sleeve (Remove Card From Sleeve may be a ubiquitous sign at the border in the future.) Finally, the use of the card is voluntary; travelers can elect to use a traditional passport if they so chose.
The decision is a rare setback for contactless technology, which is the standard behind many other government identification initiatives, including the Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC), the FIPS 201 standard for government employees, and the e-passport. Yet RFID has had its successes, too, including the NEXUS (for trusted commuter travel across the northern border), SENTRI (across the southern), and FAST programs (for trucking across the southern border). Examining the record as a whole, it seems DHS is committed to the use of RFID for border crossing programs but bullish on contactless for the identification of its own workers and, as in the case of the e-passport, wherever international privacy standards obtain.
-read more in this DHS news release; see also this Contactless News report
