The new US passport is a marvel. It's easy on the eyes. The graphics on the visa and other
pages showcase stunning graphics of American icons - see a gallery at the State
Department site
And a lot more secure, as these comments extracted from a
statement by Frank
Moss of the State Department show:
"The new passport includes a host of new security features, including
sophisticated new artwork, adopting printing techniques used in the current
generation of U.S.currency, and utilizing a variety of other techniques, many of which are only
visible under ultraviolet light.
...Advances including color shifting ink, microprinting,
latent image lettering and a security laminate over the biographic data page
that includes optical variations, all serve to deter counterfeiters and
forgers. The biographic data page has been relocated from the inside of the
front cover to the first inside page for added security. The inventory control
number for each book is now the same as the passport number.
...In addition to improving the quality of the U.S.passport,
the Department of State, building on an already excellent collaboration with
the Government Printing Office (GPO), is working to secure further the delivery
of blank passport books to domestic passport facilities by engaging armored
truck service. This mode of delivery service is used by the Department of
Treasury to move currency and other valuable documents around the country.
...Consistent with globally interoperable biometric
specifications adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
in May 2003, the United State has adopted the facial image as the
first generation of biometric identifiers. The new U.S. passport includes a
contactless chip in the rear cover of the passport that will contain the same
data as that found on the biographic data page of the passport, including a
digital image of the photograph. This data includes the following information
about the bearer: the photograph, the name, the date and place of birth, as
well as the passport number and the date of issuance and expiration. Looking to
the future, the Department decided to require 64 KB of writeable memory on the
contactless chip in the event that we subsequently decide to introduce
additional biometrics."
Not sure about privacy issues, as this NY
Times mentions "The chip, buried in the back page somewhere above the
moon, has been the source of some controversy out of fear of electronic theft,
although State Department officials say it is locked."
I will have to wait till 2013 to get mine. But my daughter
qualifies for a new one next year. May be I can trade her my unusual green
Ben Franklin 1993 passport...
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