Radio Frequency in Document Identification
Roundtable Discussion On Passports, Real ID, and Other Digital IDs
December 14, 2006
Overview | Panelist Biographies | Audio
Human identification documents are going digital -- and many are going wireless using radio frequency technologies. From border crossing documents to federal government ID cards, the U.S. government is bringing human identification into the digital age. This RFID Roundtable discussed the various digital document identification projects underway and explored the policy balancing inherent in issuing these radio frequency-enabled credentials. Topics included:
- What is the federal government's role in issuing Real ID? Are passports a good case study in issuing RFID documents?
- What basic security and privacy mechanisms are needed and do they differ by type of credential?
- What are the benefits of enhancing credentials/IDs with radio frequency capability?
- Is there a legal framework in place to penalize abuse -- both by government and by hackers?
- What and how much information should be embedded? Accessible from central databases?
- Who can swipe RFID data from the documents? Law enforcement? Public venues? Government services? Retail marketers?
- What are the differences between the ePassport and US-Visit and Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative PASS card?
Panelists included: Dan Caprio, Progress & Freedom Foundation, Kathleen Carroll, HID Corporation, Jim Harper, Cato Institute, Jennifer Kerber, Information Technology Association of America, Dan Bailey , RSA, The Security Division of EMC, Roger Cochetti, CompTIA, Tim Heffernan, Symbol Technologies, Meg Hardon , Infineon Technologies, and Frank Moss , State Department
This is part of the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee's RFID Roundtable project.
Thanks to VeriSign and CompTIA for supporting the RFID Roundtable Project.