Hi Gabriel. Great topic. Just seeing this video now, nearly a month later.
Question for you if ever you know the answer. I just recently renewed my Canadian passport and, beside noticing the very UGLY interior pages designed by Justin Castreau, I noticed a CHIP inside it. Do you know a) what they may have already put on this (including any biometrics); b) what it will be used for; c) will info be put on it every time I go through Canadian (or foreign) customs? Any other thoughts or info you have on this would be most welcome.
While I can defend the desire to add security features to prevent forgeries and identity theft, any wireless device (obviously including smartphones) themselves are excellent tools for tracking individuals.
⚠️ Speculation Warning ⚠️
While the intended use-case relies on existing tracking mechanisms it's worth pointing out that there is always new technologies being developed that have difficult-to-predict consequences. It's possible that other common techniques, such as those used to detect and find airtags and smartphones can also be used to detect these chips. while nearby. In that scenario, having direct knowledge of exactly what information is stored on the chip becomes much more important.
I see what you're saying. Maybe some people would have to try out whether signals are coming into or out of passports (from those chips).
BTW, how did you get those special warning characters in your comment? I though Substack commenting was only limited to text. Is there a resource somewhere on how to include these icons and possibly other emoticons in Comments?
I heard about that when it was hitting the airwaves (pun intended) it was part of what inspired me to write this piece (https://libresolutionsnetwork.substack.com/p/digital-id) which you'll notice includes a screenshot of the warning about the chip.
Without any speculation, there wouldn't necessarily need to be any information added to the chip itself on a per-visit basis. Considering the visit could be logged in government databases through customs themselves. Allegedly, the information on the chip is your passport photo and a digital signature for security, so I can't see why they would necessarily need to change the data on it to use it as a data-point.
That said, for the same reason that many people will use RFID-blocking wallets, it's definitely a good idea to keep it isolated and not readable except when you need to present it at customs.
The page says "An ePassport is also known as a biometric passport."
So, by BIOMETRIC here, I assume they say this because the chip contains a picture of our face.
Later in the doc it says that it does not store [other] biometric info on the chip such as iris scan or fingerprints.
So, if they are true to their word, then were are set.
However, who is to say other info won't be added on that chip in the future such as a social credit or climate score?
This could be troublesome in that it could prevent individuals from travelling across borders if their scores are too low - like is the case in China with their National ID system.
I'm glad we have tech guys like you Gabriel to heed us of all these digital dangers.
Will need to have you back on my podcast some time soon to talk more about these issues.
Hi Gabriel. Great topic. Just seeing this video now, nearly a month later.
Question for you if ever you know the answer. I just recently renewed my Canadian passport and, beside noticing the very UGLY interior pages designed by Justin Castreau, I noticed a CHIP inside it. Do you know a) what they may have already put on this (including any biometrics); b) what it will be used for; c) will info be put on it every time I go through Canadian (or foreign) customs? Any other thoughts or info you have on this would be most welcome.
Hope all is well my friend.
Cheers!
While I can defend the desire to add security features to prevent forgeries and identity theft, any wireless device (obviously including smartphones) themselves are excellent tools for tracking individuals.
⚠️ Speculation Warning ⚠️
While the intended use-case relies on existing tracking mechanisms it's worth pointing out that there is always new technologies being developed that have difficult-to-predict consequences. It's possible that other common techniques, such as those used to detect and find airtags and smartphones can also be used to detect these chips. while nearby. In that scenario, having direct knowledge of exactly what information is stored on the chip becomes much more important.
https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/23/apple_wifi_positioning_system/
I see what you're saying. Maybe some people would have to try out whether signals are coming into or out of passports (from those chips).
BTW, how did you get those special warning characters in your comment? I though Substack commenting was only limited to text. Is there a resource somewhere on how to include these icons and possibly other emoticons in Comments?
That's a "warning" emoji, since I'm on KDE (linux) I can open up a full emoji browser and pick/search what I want to use 🎉
I heard about that when it was hitting the airwaves (pun intended) it was part of what inspired me to write this piece (https://libresolutionsnetwork.substack.com/p/digital-id) which you'll notice includes a screenshot of the warning about the chip.
Without any speculation, there wouldn't necessarily need to be any information added to the chip itself on a per-visit basis. Considering the visit could be logged in government databases through customs themselves. Allegedly, the information on the chip is your passport photo and a digital signature for security, so I can't see why they would necessarily need to change the data on it to use it as a data-point.
- https://www.wired.com/story/us-border-patrol-epassport-verification/
- https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-passports/help-centre/e-passport.html
That said, for the same reason that many people will use RFID-blocking wallets, it's definitely a good idea to keep it isolated and not readable except when you need to present it at customs.
Thanks for the info.
The page link you sent links to another about ePassports:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/video/canadian-epassport.html
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ0NL3fE6uk
The page says "An ePassport is also known as a biometric passport."
So, by BIOMETRIC here, I assume they say this because the chip contains a picture of our face.
Later in the doc it says that it does not store [other] biometric info on the chip such as iris scan or fingerprints.
So, if they are true to their word, then were are set.
However, who is to say other info won't be added on that chip in the future such as a social credit or climate score?
This could be troublesome in that it could prevent individuals from travelling across borders if their scores are too low - like is the case in China with their National ID system.
I'm glad we have tech guys like you Gabriel to heed us of all these digital dangers.
Will need to have you back on my podcast some time soon to talk more about these issues.
Take care my friend.