[14000] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: U.S. seeks OSCE pact on biometric passports
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Duncan Frissell)
Tue Sep 2 17:02:31 2003
X-Original-To: cryptography@metzdowd.com
X-Original-To: cryptography@metzdowd.com
Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 16:50:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Frissell <frissell@panix.com>
To: "R. A. Hettinga" <rah@shipwright.com>
Cc: Clippable <rahettinga@earthlink.net>, cryptography@metzdowd.com
In-Reply-To: <p06001fffbb79aed4bc45@[66.149.49.6]>
Anyone have any pointers to non destructive methods of rendering Smart
Chips unreadable? Just curious.
DCF
On Mon, 1 Sep 2003, R. A. Hettinga wrote:
> <http://dynamic.washtimes.com/print_story.cfm?StoryID=3D20030901-124025-4=
029r>
>
> The Washington Times
> www.washingtontimes.com
>
> U.S. seeks OSCE pact on biometric passports
> By Nicholas Kralev
> Published September 1, 2003
>
>
> VIENNA, Austria - The United States, seeking to keep out terrorists a=
nd other criminals, this week begins a major diplomatic effort to persuade =
54 nations to adopt biometric standards when issuing passports to their cit=
izens.
> Those standards, regulated by the International Civil Aviation Organi=
zation, require every passport to have a machine-readable chip containing t=
he owner's digital photo, which is protected by a digital signature.
> The Bush administration, hoping to minimize the complexity of negotia=
ting separate bilateral agreements with all countries in the world, plans t=
o start with a multilateral accord among the 55 members of the Organization=
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), U.S. diplomats said.
> "It's a significant logistical job," Stephen M. Menekes, the U.S. amb=
assador to the Vienna, Austria-based organization, said in an interview. "B=
ut it's here, all in place, ready to be used."
> Mr. Menekes said J. Cofer Black, the State Department's coordinator f=
or counterterrorism, "had the idea" when he attended an OSCE conference in =
June, "and he walked out of here convinced that this was the way to go."
> U.S. diplomats say they hope to sign an agreement at the Dec. 1-2 ann=
ual OSCE ministerial meeting in the Dutch city of Maastricht, which would g=
ive the event a sufficiently high profile to guarantee the presence of Secr=
etary of State Colin L. Powell. Mr. Powell skipped the meeting last year be=
cause of more pressing responsibilities.
> "What we are hopeful is to get a decision at the ministerial that all=
states will commit to at least begin issuing passports with biometric data=
by December 2005," said Katherine Brucker, a political officer at the U.S.=
mission to the OSCE.
> She noted that 21 of the OSCE members - most of them European Union s=
tates - are on the Visa Waiver program, which allows their citizens to ente=
r the United States for short periods without first obtaining a visa at an =
American consulate overseas.
> "They will be obligated to start issuing biometric passports by Oct. =
26, 2004, if they want to stay in the program," she said. "They already sai=
d it's moving in this direction."
> In a paper to its fellow OSCE members outlining its proposal, the Uni=
ted States said that "restricting the movement of terrorists and organized =
criminals is imperative" in the global fight against terror.
> "The ability of criminals to forge travel documents - or to falsely o=
btain genuine ones - remains a serious and ongoing problem," says the docum=
ent, a copy of which was given to The Washington Times.
> "Harmonized travel document security measures and features among OSCE=
participating states would greatly enhance security throughout our region.=
More effective and harmonized issuance standards and controls, combined wi=
th bearer-specific security features, would greatly inhibit the movement of=
terrorists," it says.
> The Bush administration has been repeatedly accused abroad - particul=
arly in Europe - of pursuing a unilateral foreign policy and bullying other=
nations into submitting to its wishes.
> But Miss Brucker said the administration is "trying to identify ways =
a large multinational organization can actually do something useful in the =
war on terror," as in the case of OSCE.
> "We've actually been quite successful," she said. "The OSCE operates =
on consensus, and its decisions are only politically - not legally - bindin=
g, but countries do take them seriously."
> Soon after the September 11 attacks in 2001, the OSCE pledged to "pre=
vent the movement of terrorist individuals or groups through effective bord=
er controls and controls on issuance of identity papers and travel document=
s, as well as through measures for ensuring the security of identity papers=
and travel documents and preventing their counterfeiting, forgery or fraud=
ulent use."
>
>
>
>
> Copyright =A9 2003 News World Communications, Inc. All r=
ights reserved.
> Return to the article
>
> --
> -----------------
> R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com>
> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
> "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
> [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
> experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
>
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