ePassports v Enhanced Driver’s Licenses

10 February 2009

 

Following recent confusing media reports on ePassports and the US Passport Card, the Smart Card Alliance has clarified how the two documents work. The organisation has also called for a review of the decision to use EPC Gen 2 RFID in US travel documents.

According to the alliance, recent headlines have confused US ePassports – the passport books with the blue cover and the small gold ePassport icon – with the new US Passport Card and Enhanced Driver’s Licenses (EDL)already being issued as border crossing credentials by some states.

The confusion came in reports about security researcher Chris Paget, who demonstrated the ease of scanning, cloning and tracking RFID-based US Passport Cards and Enhanced Driver’s Licenses (EDL) in a YouTube video.

“The Smart Card Alliance wants to make it clear that this demonstration did not involve the blue US ePassport books,” says Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. “Headlines stating that passports can be scanned and tracked are wrong. The widely reported demonstration involved US Passport Cards and Enhanced Driver’s Licenses, which use EPC Gen 2 RFID technology. These are different travel documents and use completely different technologies from US ePassports, which use contactless smart card technology and are very privacy secure.”

The Smart Card Alliance says it recommends an immediate review of the decision to use EPC Gen 2 RFID technology in US travel documents. “The Alliance is prepared to endorse the correct use of any technology that provides adequate protection of privacy and identity information. However, as the US Passport Card and EDL programmes were being defined, the Smart Card Alliance went on record advising against using an insecure EPC Gen 2 RFID solution that puts the privacy and security of US citizens’ personal information at risk.”