Going places

[bladespark]

Recently I had to fish out my passport in order to prove that I am me. (I don't have my birth certificate handy.) I noted that said passport expires in somewhat less than two years. This makes me quite sad. Because there's very little chance that the idiotic RFID thing will be removed from passports in the next two years, so if I want to get a new one when this expires, I will have to get an RFID one.

And the sheer stupidity of using something that broadcasts your personal information as serious ID just... gah. Even if you don't consider all the fun ways that the government can abuse RFID, the fact that people other than the government can read it makes it just plain stupid, and it annoys me that in order to travel I'm going to have to take part in this massive piece of idiocy. And it's a lot more idiotic than it needs to be! Apparently the government is only now considering encrypting RFID passports. Yup, your passport, the thing which contains all the information needed to prove your identity, will broadcast that information to anybody who knows how to read it, without encryption of any sort. At a distance of up to thirty feet. And even if they do go ahead and add encryption, it's probably not going to be any better than the encryption on UK passports, which was broken less than 48 hours.

Anybody know where I can get a completely radio-proof passport case?

Comments

[sulcharae.livejournal.com]

http://www.difrwear.com/products.shtml

Personal faraday cages, for all your RFID-blocking needs. Stylish, as well!

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

That is actually rather awesome. Thanks!

[pseudowolf.livejournal.com]

That's pretty nifty. I have to use a RFID card at work and I need a new wallet. I may get myself one of those.

[pet-tiger.livejournal.com]

ThinkGeek.com sells RFID-blocking passport holders: http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/security/910f/

Probably exactly the same as the one linked to above, but still.

[world-wanderer.livejournal.com]

aluminum foil, or two seconds in the microwave.

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

The question is, do they (or will they) require you to have a working RFID chip when you use the passport? Because if nuking it means it's no use... then I might as well not get one in the first place.

[world-wanderer.livejournal.com]

Good question. I don't think they'd care right now, since most of the infrastructure for it isn't in place yet(last I heard).

[tarathene.livejournal.com]

I'm still trying to decide between a hammer, microwave and Faraday cage myself.