ePassport round-upDutch to permit citizens to scan own ePassports for errors

Technology marches on, we know, but lagging behind is a willingness on the part of citizens to give up their rights to privacy. The problem is particularly acute with RFID technology, where the threat of digital pick-pocketers is severe while the data being encrypted is extremely sensitive, and no place is this more apparent than with the ePassport. Indeed, the insecurity of the ePassport has been a serious issue over the last year, with industrious white-hat hackers breaking the codes of numerous nations’ ePassport regimes, and, as we report elsewhere in this issue, many governments are still struggling with the proper regulations to ensure secure handling.

One regulation which is in effect already, however, is that of European Union citizens — under the European Charter of Fundamental Rights — to access any data that has been collected about them, examine it for errors, and request that mistakes be quickly rectified. Of all countries concerned about this issue, Holland is perhaps on the forefront, and the government has announced a simple solution. As it stands now, Dutch citizens can apply for an ePassport at any one of around 600 municipal offices across the country. After it has been printed, the citizen returns to collect it. At that point, the applicant then has the option of using an on-site ePassport reader — created and installed by England-based Rochford Thompson — to confirm the data therein. So far, twenty-five of these devices have been deployed. “I guess it is no surprise that the Dutch government is one of those which is in the forefront of enlightened thinking on data protection,” said Rochford Thompson’s Chris Scorey.

-read more in this company news release