A bag to thwart passport data thieves

Air travel is starting to rank right up there with periodontal appointments and trips to the DMV. First it was the shoes, then the liquids--now, we have to worry about RFID spies stealing our passport data too.

That's where Paraben comes in. The forensics company has developed something called the Passport StrongHold, which is designed to shield your visa information from unauthorized eyes. The product is disarmingly simple: It's basically a nylon bag made with nickel, copper and silver that envelopes a passport to keep RFID signals from going awry.

TG Daily tested the bag recently and found that it appears to work, but it raised a question that occurred to us as well: Could it be used for some unintended consequences, such as helping shoplifters smuggle goods through store detectors? As the saying goes, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

(Photo: Paraben)

[wwwebster]

pro's and con's

clearly rfids in passports is a horrible idea, which governments can't seem to get out of their heads.

that said, the bag looks like it would stop bombs that actively scan and then blow up when they detect a passport-of-person-from-x-country in the vicinity. but it wouldn't stop an id theft person who hangs out in hotel lobby where people need to open their passport.