In next 18 months, September 2011, any Passport issues in India will have a RFID chip embedded in the front which will carry the holders information electronically and can be read by the security personal of any country when swiped.
If you are thinking this is some kind of Hi Tech stuff, think back. This technology has already been adopted by major countries in the world and they have automated scanners which can read details from the scanners making clearnace very easy. Though US also have a Machine readable passport but is not availble in every country.
Coming to the security of the chip because we all know how the system works but this time Minister of External Affairs had made sure this chip doesn’t get tampered. According to them any time the chip is exposed to air all the information would disappear and the chip will become useless.
This system will not only reduce the risk of duplicate passports but will also reduce the harassments Indian face at countries like Dubai, US because of security reason. We hope with this things change.
That is one side of the coin… The other side is that if the Indian government, or any other for that matter wanted to spy on you, keep a log of all your travels, this is the ticket.
That is one side of the coin… The other side is that if the Indian government, or any other for that matter wanted to spy on you, keep a log of all your travels, this is the ticket.