Passports, like any physical ID, can be altered and forged. That's partly why for the last 11 years the United States has put RFID chips in the back panel of its passports, creating so-called e-Passports. The chip stores your passport information—like name, date of birth, passport number, your photo, and even a biometric identifier—for quick, machine-readable border checks. And while e-Passports also store a cryptographic signature to prevent tampering or forgeries, it turns out that despite having over a decade to do so, US Customs and Border Patrol hasn't deployed the software needed to actually verify it.
https://www.wired.com/story/us-border-patrol-hasnt-validated-e-passport-data-for-years/
(Score: 5, Informative) by DaTrueDave on Friday February 23 2018, @01:50PM (1 child)
I despise poor reporting and this particular issue is poorly reported nearly everywhere.
US Customs and Border Protection is a federal agency responsible for the security of our borders.
Within CBP is the US Border Patrol. Border Patrol Agents are the folks that wear green uniforms and PATROL the border in between ports of entry to try to ensure people don't sneak in illegally.
Also within CBP are the Customs and Border Protection Officers. They wear blue uniforms and you see them at airports, land ports, and seaports. They're the ones that ask you for your citizenship, whether you have anything to declare for customs, check your US passport and stamp foreign passports.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by VLM on Friday February 23 2018, @03:09PM
I believe the standard SN bad automobile analogy is ODB-II universal digital code readers are a failure in the industry because the security guard at the parking lot doesn't have or use one.