[IP] more on more on on RFIDs in passports
Title: more on more on on RFIDs in passports
------ Forwarded Message
From: John Morris <jmorris-lists@xxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 16:36:02 -0400
To: <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Henning Schulzrinne <hgs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Bruening, Paula" <pbruening@xxxxxxx>, "Schwartz, Ari" <ari@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [IP] more on more on on RFIDs in passports
For IP....
Dave,
We should not jump to the conclusion that there exists no possible technical solution to the problems posed by RFIDs in passports:
At 11:33 AM -0400 4/21/05, David Farber wrote:
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From: Russell Nelson <nelson@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 10:25:56 -0400
To: <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "Jonathan S. Shapiro" <shap@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [IP] more on on RFIDs in passports
<SNIP>
The real objection remains: how do you create a chip which everyone
who you DO want to read it gets to read it, but nobody you DON'T want
to read it can read it, and which does not require any action on your
part. There is no solution to this problem; thus RFIDs cannot be made
to work securely.
In a brief note posted today, Henning Schulzrinne, Chair of the Columbia Department of Computer Science, has suggested a couple of seemingly viable methods for preventing passport RFIDs from being read by unauthorized readers. See http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~hgs/papers/2005/passport.pdf,.
The most intriguing idea that Professor Schulzrinne advances is to include a "light-sensitive element" on an inside page of the passport, such that the RFID is only capable of responding to a reader when the passport is opened to, say, the inside cover/first page where the picture appears. As Professor Schulzrinne explains, "if the passport is closed, the RFID circuitry is disabled." This type of technology is used in some greeting cards, and thus likely would not add too much cost above and beyond the cost of the RFID itself. The fuller description of the idea is:
Light sensor: A light-sensitive element embedded in the passport center page only activates the RFID circuitry when sufficient light falls onto the passport. If the passport is closed, the RFID circuitry is disabled. A simple photo-sensitive resistor can serve this purpose and does not require any active circuitry. This approach is similar to one used by electronic "singing" greeting cards that play their tune when the recipient opens the card. Ambient light is sufficient to activate the circuitry, so the customs official would only have to open the passport in order to obtain the data. The additional cost of such circuitry appears extremely modest, as they can be embedded in greeting cards.
I would be interested in any problems with this approach that your readers might raise (as I am sure would Professor Schulzrinne, who I have cc'd on this e-mail).
John Morris
--
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John B. Morris, Jr.
Staff Counsel
Center for Democracy and Technology
1634 I Street NW, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 637-9800
(202) 637-0968 fax
jmorris@xxxxxxx
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