New passports will feature chip technology
Document capable of storing vast amounts of data
Now we have a more sophisticated adversary, more sophisticated terrorists. So we need more sophisticated methods.
JIM MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION ORGANIZATION AVIATION SECURITY BRANCH
MONTREAL — Starting next spring, your Canadian passport will be valid for up to 10 years, but it will also feature a new electronic chip on which vast amounts of data can be stored.
Not that it will, insists Passport Canada. But it could — including personal commercial information like cars you’ve rented, hotel reservations made or your frequent flyer programs.
Eleven years after 9/ 11, the new passport is part of the global tightening of air travel security that is the subject of a three- day conference starting Wednesday in Montreal. The International Civil Aviation Organization meeting will host 33 ministers, including Canada’s Transport Minister Denis Lebel and Janet Napolitano, the U. S. Secretary of Homeland Security.
Passports will be discussed, but air freight security will also be a hot topic, said Raymond Benjamin, secretarygeneral of the organization.
Passport Canada announced earlier this year that by the end of 2012, the new passports will be equipped with an electronic chip, much like credit cards or debit cards have had for some years. The chip also will contain your photo in electronic format. Several countries already use this technology, including U. S., Britain and France.
Airports focused on passenger screening after the 2001 terrorist attacks, but a terrorist attempt to send bombs in a printer cartridge on a U. S.bound aircraft three years ago shifted some of that focus back to cargo.
Jim Marriott, chief of ICAO’s Aviation Security Branch, said in the interview that it would be “unrealistic” to screen all cargo at the highest levels. “So if we distinguish between highrisk cargo and other cargo, it will allow us to focus security resources on what the problem is most likely to be. And the rest of the cargo goes through a lesser but still relevant ( check).”
There is little conflict at ICAO between states or regions on the approach to air security or the process to reach it. The question, though, will be about which provisions are adopted and the speed at which they can be implemented. Many countries, notably the U. S., have moved to a system of risk assessment for air travel — thorough intelligence vetting of passengers in exchange for easier travel.
“The U. S. has introduced its ( Secure Flight) program where if you are a frequent traveller and if you have submitted a certain number of data on a voluntary basis, you will be treated differently,” Benjamin said. “You will not have to give your belt and your shoes and your computer and this and that. It’s a trade- off.”
The invasion of privacy and voluntary surrendering of personal information is not a major issue, he added. Governments — and others — already have that information and the new system’s purpose is to red- flag problem individuals and cargo, to the benefit of nearly all travellers — less time in lineups and safer flights.
“In the early 1970s,” said Marriott, “when passenger screening was introduced ( in the wake of hijackings) with metal detectors and X- ray machines for cabin baggage, the same kinds of concerns were raised. ... Well, there’s a responsibility that ICAO and the international community have to explore ways of making security better and more efficient.”
“Now we have a more sophisticated adversary, more sophisticated terrorists. So we need more sophisticated methods.”
Canadian passports now have a “machine- readable strip on it that contains certain data, but it’s limited,” Marriott said.