...the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) wants to embed RFIDs in your passport, along with so-called biometric identifiers such as fingerprints.
We joined Privacy International, the ACLU and other civil liberties organizations from all around the world today in opposing this new passport standard (PDF) until or unless the ICAO:
* Follows through on earlier promises to review the privacy implications of biometrics and trans-border personal information transfers;
* Releases clear and binding privacy requirements that will reduce the risks of illegal collection, use, retention, and transfers of this information;
* Upholds national data protection laws or cultural practices, as previously promised;
* Prevents, by design or biometric selection, the development of biometric databases; and
* Evaluates more fully the standard's privacy and surveillance implications, as well as explores alternatives with less potential for privacy invasion or other abuse by surveillance agencies.
