New US Passport Design

[JLC@SD]

I have read about the new US Passports and was wondering what they looked like........and I found this link.......how do you like it.......:)

 

http://travel.state.gov/passport/eppt/epptnew_2807.html

[AAAAmerican]

New in design is just fine...and about time..:cool:

 

 

 

I have read about the new US Passports and was wondering what they looked like........and I found this link.......how do you like it.......:)

 

http://travel.state.gov/passport/eppt/epptnew_2807.html

[Lewdog]

looks good to me

[chasetf]

I like it.... but will have to wait a few more years to get it. :D

[Coolmama_1]

Looks great! Still have 3 years left on this one!

[Colo Cruiser]

Nice!! ;)

[gambit57]

I like it. Much prettier and looks pretty hard to copy.

 

I gotta wait like 8 years before I get a new one though.

[cbpanda]

I had noticed the differences when I was looking through my mother's passport (she just received her's in January). I really like the new design. I think it adds a lot.

[carlywilson]

they are kinda pretty....that is the design my kids and I have....still waiting for my DH's passport.....filed it 11 weeks ago and we travel in 5 .....

[DrivesLikeMario]

Very nice & interesting to see the data page on an actual page instead of the inside cover.

 

My 1999 passport is very different from my kids' second passport that they got in 2004. Theirs is much nicer. I wonder if they'll change it again before 2009 when I get my next one?

[Sea Hag]

Isn't this the model with the integrated circuit built into it? With one's information readable by handheld scanners? And aren't there some, probably valid, security concerns about that? As in nefarious persons lurking nearby ALSO being able to read the data with scanners of their own. I read an article recently that advised everybody to get a renewal, whether they were due for one or not, before these went into effect. The reasoning was that by the time 10 years have passed, they may have added some better security to these.

[wdrl]

Isn't this the model with the integrated circuit built into it? With one's information readable by handheld scanners? And aren't there some, probably valid, security concerns about that? As in nefarious persons lurking nearby ALSO being able to read the data with scanners of their own. I read an article recently that advised everybody to get a renewal, whether they were due for one or not, before these went into effect. The reasoning was that by the time 10 years have passed, they may have added some better security to these.

 

Here's what the US State Department, Passports, is saying. They feel they have fixed the problems. When I searched the internet only one 2007 article came up and it agrees with the official word. All of the articles that were worried about the security aspect were from 2005.

 

Will someone be able to read or access the information on the chip without my knowledge (also known as skimming or eavesdropping)?

Skimming is the act of obtaining data from an unknowing end user who is not willingly submitting the sample at that time. Eavesdropping is the interception of information as it moves electronically between the chip and the chip reader.

An example of skimming could be secretly reading data while in close proximity to a user on a bus. In this application, the chip is designed to operate within 10 centimeters (less than 4 inches) of a chip reader using appropriate public keys. Experts indicate that the information on the chip cannot be easily accessed surreptitiously. Even so, the Department of State has incorporated a reliable anti-skimming feature and Basic Access Control to mitigate the threat of skimming in all electronic passports.

Eavesdropping can only occur while a reader using the proper public key is reading the chip. Eavesdropping is difficult to achieve in a secured port-of-entry environment that is government-operated in most cases. In such an environment, the equipment needed to eavesdrop would be obvious and detectable to authorities managing the port of entry environment. Governments can reduce the threat of eavesdropping by requiring all chip readers to be electronically shielded to prevent signals from being transmitted beyond the reader.

To prevent skimming and eavesdropping of data, Basic Access Control (BAC) is employed. BAC is similar to a PIN used in ATM or credit card transactions. In the case of the electronic passport, characters from the printed machine-readable zone of the passport must be read first in order to unlock the chip for reading. Thus, when an electronic passport is presented to an inspector, the inspector must scan the printed lines of data in order to be able to read the data on the chip. To further protect against skimming, the U.S. e-passport will include a shielding material in the passport cover that will make unauthorized reading of the passport very difficult from any appreciable distance as long as the passport is closed.

Can the information on the chip be altered and how is the information protected from being accessed by an unauthorized reader?

The new passports use Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology that prevents the chip from being altered; thus, providing a higher level of security for the passport. Access to the data on the chip requires the use of an official public key to ensure that the data has not been altered and that it was written to the chip by the Department of State. Although some experts have advised that surreptitious reading of data from the chip cannot be achieved beyond prescribed distances, the Department intends to issue all electronic passports with an anti-skimming feature built into the passport. The device would prevent any reading of data on the chip while the passport is not being used.

 

We renewed our passports this year and ended up with the old kind anyway. The State Dept. still doesn't have the new passport equipment set up at all of the renewal offices. My DH is like Sea Hag and worries about it security. Me, if a pro really wants to steal my passport identity they will whether it's in electronic passport or not.

 

http://travel.state.gov/passport/eppt/eppt_2788.html#Twelve

 

FYI, I did find out that chip is not in the front cover but the back cover.

[JPO]

My BW just renewed her passport ... new one arrived 3 days ago and it is NOT any different from the old one. Certainly nothing like the passport shown on the link. It is good to 2017 so there is not going to be a very rapid change over.

[Sea Hag]

Gee, I dunno. The article I read was in the newspaper and definitely in 2007. Don't want to start an argument here. But you do have to take into account who it is that's telling us this is safe - the government. Do we believe everything we hear from that direction these days? ;)

[Casey12]

They sure are pretty. We just received our new ones.