State Department: Robust security for U.S. e-passport

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review had an editorial (“Passport mistake: Speed vs. security” on 24 May) in which the paper expressed alarm that the U.S. State Department’s electronic-passport card easily can be copied or altered just by removing the photo with solvent. Stephen Edson, acting principal deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the Department of State, wrote the paper to say that in its editorial, the Trib repeated errors about the new security card (for more details on the epassport, se travel.state.gov/passport). “Multiple features in our passport card embody the emphasis on security that the Trib highlights,” Edson writes. The card’s photograph cannot be removed with solvent. A laser engraving process embeds the photograph into the polycarbonate card stock, meaning that attempts to remove your picture will visibly mar the card. “A state-of-the-art hologram embedded in the card integrates both the photograph and personal data printed on the card,” Edson says, and “rRemoving or tampering with this hologram would destroy the card.”

There is more. The passport card transmits no personal information because the radio-frequency identification electronic chip in the card contains no personal information. The chip contains only a unique number that links to a secure government database. Multiple features on the card’s surface allow quick “see and touch” verification by border inspectors. “The passport card reflects the government’s priority in securing border crossing while facilitating vital transit across U.S. land borders,” edson writes. “We have designed America’s passport card with the latest technology to ensure crossing these borders will be safe and secure at any speed.”