RFID Vendors Tell US Congress RFID-Based ID Cards Raise Security Risks

On the heels of my post on a European government study outlining the privacy riskks of RFID, industry vendors here in the US are telling Congress the same thing when it comes to new ID cards being proposed by the Department of Homeland Security.

"We have a situation where the government is issuing [identity] cards to themselves that are more secure than what they are about to issue to the citizens. There is something significantly wrong with the situation," said Neville Pattinson, vice president of government affairs and standards at Gemalto, a digital security company based in Amsterdam, in statements cited by RFID Journal.

Apparently the standard the DHS is currently looking at will be completely unencrypted and easily cloned.

The cards were conceived as a cheaper alternative to US passports for citizens who make frequent land border crossings.

Congress is mandating a delay of 18 months because of the "insecure technology choices."

Let's hope so.

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