Some people are very skeptical when it comes to technology. And now, RFID chip is in your passport for security reasons. You may be thinking or asking yourself, what is RFID? Well, RFID or radio frequency identification is the new technology that stores your information. To retrieve the data, the chip is scanned, and the information is displayed on a screen. It was designed to help with identity fraud. Since 2007, U.S. passports, includes adult and child passport, started using RFID chips.
How does RFID Chip work?
RFID is a microchip embedded in the front cover of your passport. Your data like your full name, address, and biometrics are programmed on the chip. By having the chip, it makes the screening process much faster when you are at the airport. The passport book front cover must be open for the microchip to be scanned. The agent can then look at the information and then compare the photo displayed with the person in front of him or her.
A closed book cannot be scanned. For this reason, it makes it difficult for someone with an RFID scanner to scan a passport if it is tuck away or in your pocket. If your information were to get into some else hands, they wouldn’t be able to do much with it since it is limited. Other documents use the same technology with much more personal data stored in them.
Credit and Debit Cards use RFID Chips
In the last two years, many department stores upgraded their checkout systems to read cards for payment. Some, but just a few, still allow swiping but most have the RFID reader. It is how information is transfer for payment. So, passports are not the only document that uses this technology.
Other cards that have the RFID or microchip are hotel room keys, company IDs, and even school students’ IDs. The U.S. is not the only country that uses this technology, but over 80 countries around the world do as well. So, it is more common than you think and is trusted by governments and businesses around the world.
Can You remove the RFID Chip?
If you remove the chip from your passport, you are making it invalid. The chip is part of the document, and if removed, it makes not functional. All issued U.S. passport after 2007 will have the RFID chip. If you have one that was issued before 2007, it will be replaced with a passport with the chip. Once you do a passport renewal, you will have the new technology.
Like a passport, all credit and debit cards will have the microchip embedded in them. So, if you go somewhere that uses the chip to process a payment, you will not have any problem using your card.