In 2006 the British government introduced a new biometric passports also know as an e-passports. The new passports physical appearance haven’t changed significantly however, the new biometric passports have had radio-frequency identification tags (RFID) inserted in them. The purpose of the tags is for identification and tracking using radio waves, the chips are also used for products and animals. The RFID tags contain information on the passport owner which can be read and processed. The purpose of the new passports is to improve security particularly with increase in numbers of fake passports. However the new e-passports has sparked much debate on the privacy issue and whether the passports are actually secure.
Privacy activists have, in many countries the passports have been introduced in, stated the lack of information on the what exactly are on the chips is a problem. There also is a issue of the passports being traceable which for some people is an invasion of privacy as the passports are able to transmit radio waves. There is also the issue of e-passports being cloned as the information and the passport numbers on the chips are not encrypted meaning the information can easily be read if in the wrong hands.
Personally, I think the e-passports are not an invasion of privacy rather a form of a security warning to other countries to warn of criminals or any threats. After the events of 9/11 entering another country has become much more restricted and controlled. So I think this is why the e-passports have been introduced to allow borders forces to have more control and knowledge on who is entering the county as the new passports now allow this.
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