Metals & Alloys

The switch from old-fashioned paper passports to new electronic "e-passports" has made passport identity theft a hot topic. Security concerns revolve around the way e-passports store your personal information on an internal integrated circuit (IC) and then transmit the data once the passport is opened and exposed to a power source.

Ideally, electronic passports are supposed to speed up transits and improve national security at international borders while keeping your identity safe. In reality, however, several hackers have found ways to access your e-passport data, essentially while you're walking down the street.

How can my information be stolen?

The main flaw with e-passport technology is that it relies upon relatively powerful radio waves to transmit your data. As with any electromagnetic radiation, it's difficult to completely stop these radio waves with an object that will fit effortlessly into your pocket. Therefore, the backing of an electronic passport can only attenuate the waves, making them weaker.

The end result of this attenuation is that anyone with a powerful enough scanner and the right technological know-how can scan your closed e-passport from a distance of about twenty feet. The identity thief can acquire all of the data from your passport's photo ID page - even your picture.

What can be done about this?

There are two possible solutions to this problem. The first one, recommended by the U.S. government, is to purchase a "radio-opaque" sleeve for storing your passport. Based upon my research, these sleeves typically cost around $20 (USD) and are made of stainless steel or aluminum alloy fibers, often embedded in plastic.

Although these "radio-opaque" sleeves work well in theory, recent research indicates that they may be incapable of entirely shielding the radio waves emitted by your passport. Recently, tests have shown that even when a metal sleeve is perfectly intact, data can still be scanned from as far as a half-yard away. Of course, this means that the only true way to protect your identity is to stop the transmission completely.

So what's the second solution to this problem? Well, that's up to you. Would you spend $20 on a stylish alloy sleeve with questionable ability to protect your identity, or is it possible to build a better (and cheaper) one from household metals or other materials?