The US Department of Homeland Security is to begin a
major trial of passports embedded with radio frequency
identification (RFID) chips at San Francisco International Airport
this month.
The trial will start in mid-January and see visitors from
countries including Australia, New Zealand and Singapore have their
passports checked, processed and tracked using RFID technology.
All three countries have already started issuing passports
equipped with RFID chips, which can store the personal information
of the passport holder.
As San Francisco airport is one of the main entry points for
visitors to California’s silicon valley, a large number of IT
workers will now experience RFID systems at close hand.
The Department of Homeland Security tested RFID passports for a
three month period last autumn at Los Angeles International
Airport.
