Department of Homeland Security Report of the Chief Privacy Officer:

US-VISIT

G-4 visa holders are exempt from US-VISIT procedures and are not required to submit their biometrics upon arrival at a port of entry in the United States. A G-4 visa is a type of nonimmigrant U.S. visa for employees of international organizations and members of their immediate families. US-VISIT received a redress letter by mail from a G-4 visa holder who had been erroneously fingerprinted. He requested that his fingerprints be deleted from the US-VISIT system. US-VISIT checked his records and discovered that his fingerprints had already been deleted from the system. No further action to correct his record at US-VISIT was required at the time. US-VISIT sent a letter to the individual indicating his biometrics had been deleted from the US-VISIT system.

Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2010 Report to CongressDepartment of Homeland Security Report of the Chief Privacy Officer Pursuant to Section 803 of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007June 23, 2010

A commonly-used cancer drug can make patients’ fingerprints disappear, potentially causing problems for foreign travel, a doctor warns.

One patient was held by US immigration officials for four hours before they allowed him to enter the country.

The case is highlighted in the journal Annals of Oncology.

The patient’s doctor, Eng-Huat Tan, from Singapore, advised all travellers to the US being treated with the drug capecitabine to carry a doctor’s note.

Dr Tan, based at the National Cancer Centre in Singapore, said several other patients had also reported loss of fingerprints on blog sites, with some also having problems entering the US.

Dr Eng-Huat Tan
National Cancer Centre, Singapore

His patient, a 62-year-old man, had head and neck cancer that had spread, but which had responded well to chemotherapy.

He was prescribed capecitabine to help prevent the cancer coming back.

Although the drug is commonly used to treat a range of cancers, it can cause chronic inflammation of the palms or soles of the feet, leading to peeling, bleeding or blistering of the skin.

Over time this can lead to the loss of fingerprints.

Dr Tan’s patient developed mild side effects, and because they did not affect his daily life, it was decided that he should keep on taking a low dose of the drug.

In December 2008, after more than three years of capecitabine he travelled to the US to visit relatives.

Dr Tan said: “He was detained at the airport customs for four hours because the immigration officers could not detect his fingerprints.

“He was allowed to enter after the custom officers were satisfied that he was not a security threat.

“He was advised to travel with a letter from his oncologist stating his condition and the treatment he was receiving to account for his lack of fingerprints to facilitate his entry in future.”

Security measures

Foreign visitors have been asked to provide fingerprints at USA airports for several years.

The images are matched with millions of visa holders to detect whether the new visa applicant has a visa under a different name.

It is uncertain when a patient will lose their fingerprints, and in this case the patient was not aware that he had.

Dr Tan said: “Patients taking long-term capecitabine may have problems with regards to fingerprint identification when they enter US ports or other countries that require fingerprint identification and should be warned about this.

“It is possible that there may be a growing number of such patients. They should prepare adequately before travelling to avert inconvenience.”

Martin Ledwick, of the charity Cancer Research UK, said: “In a minority of cases, some chemotherapy drugs can cause hand and foot syndrome, where the skin can begin to peel on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.

“For most people, this is reasonably mild.”

Ed Imwinkelried, Chair and Michael Cherry, Vice Chair - The Digital Technology Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers reporting that fingerprint evidence cannot be trusted. You read that right.

The Digital Technology Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers believes it can prove that the methods used by today’s fingerprint examiners are insufficient to establish fingerprint uniqueness.

Our membership includes experienced pattern recognition scientists who have appeared before the National Academies of Science and worked with the U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology(NIST).  Before becoming involved in forensic issues, they received letters of appreciation from the U.S. Executive Office of the President, the Director of NIST, and the White House Y2K Czar.

For example, NIST invited them to participate as members of an ad hoc working group on Data Formats for the Interchange of Fingerprint, Facial, Scar, Mark, and Tattoo (SMT) Information.  These standards define the content, format, and units of information that are used for the fingerprint, facial, or SMT identification of a subject.  They not only participated on this project;  they were also permitted to vote to replace the lossy compression scheme used by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies–a scheme that saved space by sacrificing detail.  Other voters included Interpol, Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office, the Netherlands National Police Agency, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Most recently, they have turned our attention to fingerprint analysis.  In our opinion, the ACE-V methodology should be renamed PACE-V — partial analysis comparison evaluation and verification; examiners analyze incomplete information.  We are eager to participate in DAUBERT/FRYE hearings to expose the insufficiency of the current paradigm.

You can contact us at:

Michael Cherry, Vice Chair                                                               Ed Imwinkelried, Chair

201 513-8300                                                                                                        530 752-0727

New Delhi, May 03, 2010

First Published: 01:16 IST(3/5/2010)

Last Updated: 01:22 IST(3/5/2010)

A trial run of full body scanners will start at Delhi airport later this month.

The Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), which runs Delhi airport, inked an agreement with American Science and Engineering Inc (AS&E) to supply the scanners — which reveal every detail of the human body, including the genitals — to screen passengers.

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has cleared the specifications of the new scanner. Sources said the civil aviation ministry has written to the customs department to suggest duty on the scanning equipment being installed on a trial basis should be waived.

DIAL refused to confirm the order with one officer claiming the company does not speak on security-related issues.

AS&E’s is a US-based manufacturer whose list of clients includes the US Department of Homeland Security and the US Department of Defense, her Majesty’s Customs & Excise (UK), NATO, and the Royal Thai Police (Thailand), according to the company’s website.

At present, security checks at Indian airports comprise pat-down searches, doorframe metal detectors and hand-held device scans. A final decision on whether to buy the scanners — which have raised questions of human rights violation — will be taken after the trial run.

Written by RSN Press Release,  SATURDAY, 17 APRIL 2010 15:40

The Rutherford Institute Joins with Broad Coalition to Urge White House and Members of Congress to Oppose Biometric National ID Card

Groups Insist That Comprehensive Immigration Reform Must Respect Civil Liberties and Privacy

WASHINGTON – The Rutherford Institute has joined with a broad coalition of groups urging the White House, the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee to oppose a proposal by Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) that would include a biometric national ID card in comprehensive immigration reform legislation.

Signatories to the letter opposing the national ID card are from across the political spectrum and include advocates for privacy, consumer rights, gun owners, limited government and religious liberty.

(A copy of the coalition’s letter is available bellow)

“No one disputes that our broken immigration system harms both immigrants and non-immigrants, but a full scale National ID system is not the solution,” said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “A National ID would not only violate privacy by helping to consolidate data and facilitate tracking of individuals, it would bring government into the very center of our lives by serving as a government permission slip needed by everyone in order to work.”

A biometric ID card, like the kind under consideration for inclusion in the comprehensive immigration reform legislation being considered by Congress, is a national system for identifying individuals that is used to determine if they are eligible for rights and benefits-a classic national ID. In order to create a biometric ID, every worker in America would have to present a birth certificate and other identification documents, then have his or her biometric, like a fingerprint, captured.

In its letter, the coalition stated, “A National ID would not only violate privacy by helping to consolidate data and facilitate tracking of individuals, it would bring government into the very center of our lives by serving as a government permission slip needed by everyone in order to work.” Both Republicans and Democrats have opposed a National ID system. President Reagan likened a 1981 proposal to the biblical “mark of the beast,” and President Clinton dismissed a similar plan because it smacked of Big Brother. Furthermore, as the letter points out, contrary to the contentions of Senators Schumer and Graham, it would be impossible to create such a system without establishing a national database-a central electronic repository-of Americans’ personal information.

Every government identification system currently in existence requires a database. Databases are necessary in order to reissue lost or stolen cards and as a check on fraud and abuse. Without record keeping, the same Social Security number and birth certificate could be used again and again to issue new cards to different people-defeating the entire purpose of the system. Such a central repository will be irresistible to identity thieves, hackers and those who want to misuse personal information for crimes like stalking.

_______________________________________________________________________

April 14, 2010

United States Senate

Washington, DC 20510

Re: Oppose Schumer/Graham Biometric National ID Proposal within Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Dear Senator:

We write today to express our opposition to a proposal by Senators Charles Schumer (D – NY) and Lindsey Graham (R – SC) to create a biometric Social Security card – one that relies on personal characteristics like fingerprints to identify individuals. No one disputes that our broken immigration system harms both immigrants and non-immigrants, but a full scale National ID system is not the solution.

Both Republicans and Democrats have opposed a National ID system. President Reagan likened a 1981 proposal to the biblical “mark of the beast,” and President Clinton dismissed a similar plan because it smacked of Big Brother. A National ID would not only violate privacy by helping to consolidate data and facilitate tracking of individuals, it would bring government into the very center of our lives by serving as a government permission slip needed by everyone in order to work. As happened with Social Security cards decades ago, use of such ID cards would quickly spread and be used for other purposes – from travel to voting to gun ownership.

Contrary to the contentions of Senators Schumer and Graham, it would be impossible to create such a system without establishing a national database – a central electronic repository – of Americans’ personal information. Every government identification system currently in existence requires a database. Databases are necessary in order to reissue lost or stolen cards and as a check on fraud and abuse. Without record keeping, the same Social Security number and birth certificate could be used again and again to issue new cards to different people – defeating the entire purpose of the system. Such a central repository will be irresistible to identity thieves, hackers and those who want to misuse personal information for crimes like stalking. The cost of this system will be extraordinary, running to hundreds of billions of dollars and dwarfing the expense associated with other parts of immigration reform. As one example, the federal government recently began to issue a limited number of biometric ID cards, called Transportation Worker Identification Credentials. It is estimated that the Department of Homeland Security will spend $1.9 billion to issue cards to approximately 1 million workers.

Expanded to the entire US workforce of 150 million people, that would translate to a proportionately greater cost of $285 billion. A biometric system would likely have to be fee based – requiring not just government permission, but also a government fee to work. Adding insult to injury, this unaffordable scheme will probably never work. Even ignoring the enormous difficulties of creating a system to fingerprint every worker and distributing readers to employers across the country, the truth is that some employers prefer the ambiguity of the current process.

Unless significantly greater resources are dedicated to enforcing the law, employers will continue to have a strong incentive to circumvent a broken system. Such enforcement could be accomplished just as easily without a National ID.

A biometric ID system would be controversial and unpopular with constituencies across the ideological spectrum. It would require the fingerprinting of every American worker – not just immigrants. It would also require the creation of a bureaucracy that combines the worst elements of the Transportation Security Administration and state Motor Vehicle Departments. For all of these reasons we believe that a National ID system should play no part in the otherwise needed reform of our immigration system.

Sincerely,

American Civil Liberties Union

American Library Association

American Policy Center

Americans for Tax Reform

Bill of Rights Defense Committee

Calegislation

Campaign for Liberty

Center for Digital Democracy

Center for Financial Privacy and Human Rights

Citizen Outreach

Citizens Against Government Waste

Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

Competitive Enterprise Institute

Consumer Action

Consumer Federation of America

Consumer Watchdog

Cyber Privacy Project

Defending Dissent Foundation

DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Electronic Privacy Information Center

Equal Justice Alliance

Former Congressman Bob Barr

Hispanic Leadership Fund

Home School Legal Defense Association

Indian American Republican Council

Liberty Coalition

National Center for Transgender Equality

National Lawyer’s Guild–National Office

National Whistleblower Center

Patient Privacy Rights

Privacy Activism

Privacy International

Privacy Journal

Privacy Lives

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

Privacy Times

PrivacyRightsNow Coalition

Rutherford Institute

The 5-11 Campaign

The Identity Project

The Multiracial Activist

U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation

World Privacy Forum

“Chechen militant bombers were wearing a police uniform in Moscow subway blasts”

The Russian Ministry for Internal Affairs has been receiving reports about persons pretending to be INTERPOL officers using fake ID. Some of the places this has been going on are border towns in Murmansk Oblast.

The Russian National Central Bureau for INTERPOL by the Ministry for Internal Affairs has received reports from different parts of the country about certain persons appearing as Interpol officers, a press release from the ministry reads. The impostors use identification documents and badges with INTERPOL’s symbol.

In Murmansk Oblast, these false INTERPOL officers have been operating in towns on the borders with Norway and Finland, the press release reads. Here they have been showing their IDs to local officials and regular citizens. The IDs looked like official INTERPOL IDs, in blue morocco cover with a metal badge shaped as the INTERPOL emblem. The “officers” have used the fake IDs to get personal benefits or get away after having done minor offences like breaking traffic regulations.

Similar reports have come from Moscow, Krasnodar, Tyumen and Astrakhan. The National Central Bureau for INTERPOL has also received information about similar incidents in Russia’s neighboring countries.

Fearing that the number of such incidents could be on the rise, the National Central Bureau for INTERPOL informs that their officers do not use any special identification documents other than the standard police badge that all Russian police officers have.

BarentsObserver has earlier reported that police authorities on both sides of the Norwegian-Russian border are interested in a joint plan on cross-border crime prevention and crime investigation. A cooperation agreement on the issue is signed before summer, Chief of police in Eastern Finnmark police district Håkon Skulstad said.

Cross-border traffic across the Norwegian-Russian border could pick pace if a planned cooperation zone between the two country’s border areas is implemented. The cooperation zone would include facilitated cross-border travel conditions for the people living in the zone.

NEW DELHI: After seeking information from the US authorities on who picked up the tab for Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley’s credit cards, security agencies have launched a crackdown against terror suspects using international cards as a mode of funding their operations in India.

In two operations in Lucknow and Delhi, intelligence agencies with the help of local police seized more than 65 international credit cards with at least Rs 4-5 crore withdrawn on them and distributed to sleeper cells, sources said.

In the first operation, the Anti-Terrorist Squad of the UP police last month recovered 20 international cards from two individuals in Lucknow after a close surveillance revealed that they were using the credit cards to draw money and pass it on to sleeper cells in the city on the instructions of Nepal-based masterminds.

In a similar action in the national Capital, officials of the Delhi Police raided a resident in Rohini and recovered 45 international credit cards from his possession along with Rs 6 lakh in cash. Initial questioning of the accused in both the cases that the revealed money was paid in Nepal and the operatives in Lucknow and Delhi were instructed to withdraw it and pass it on to contacts as per orders.

While the income tax department is on the job to map the economic footprint of these jehadis within the country, the government has roped in the Enforcement Directorate to register and investigate each of these cases to identify the sources of transactions made in foreign countries on these cards and further investigate the cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Meanwhile, the government is in touch with the authorities in US and Canada to ascertain who had paid for the credit card bills of Headley and other accused linked to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

A year-long investigation in the use of international credit cards by terror suspects in India has revealed that at least Rs 20-25 crore had been spent by them in the recent past across the country. These credit cards were issued in US, Canada, UK, Dubai, Nepal and Bangladesh and the bills were picked up by terror masterminds based there. Agencies are identifying all such payment gateways, their beneficiaries and sponsors.

The authorities are hopeful of busting the terror and narcotics syndicates by establishing a link between the users of such credit cards and their masterminds who are picking up the tab. Though the FBI has shared some details with the National Investigation Agency while referring to Headley’s co-accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana’s company, World Immigration Service, as one of the funding sources which also provided him a cover for his jehadi mission, it is not yet clear who picked up Headley’s credit card bills in the US.

Sources said Pakistan-based jehadi outfits are using the new modus operandi to fund their operatives in India without alerting the security agencies as the earlier hawala mode of funding had come under close surveillance.

WRITTEN BY: ALEX NEWMAN

Dilemma

The Government(s) intend to use Biometrics as an ultimate authentication tool, can they let the private sector use, collect or even share “Governmental” Biometric records?

Are they wonder whether companies will sell biometric data of our body parts the way they sell email addresses and phone numbers?

A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators is teaming up with the Obama administration to legalize illegal immigrants and require biometric national ID cards for every American worker, prompting a swift and bipartisan backlash across the nation.

The proposal would unconstitutionally force nearly all Americans to obtain the new “tamper proof” Social Security cards while purporting to require that all employers purchase new $800 ID scanners. It would also provide a “path to citizenship” for the estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal immigrants currently living in America.

Led by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York, pro-amnesty and national ID legislators have already started the public relations campaign to build support for the “new and improved” version of “comprehensive immigration reform.” In a column published by the Washington Post entitled “The right way to mend immigration,” the two architects provided a superficial glimpse at their agenda. And though the piece is lacking in details, it reveals a dangerous agenda that Americans must oppose in order to maintain freedom.

“Our plan has four pillars: requiring biometric Social Security cards to ensure that illegal workers cannot get jobs; fulfilling and strengthening our commitments on border security and interior enforcement; creating a process for admitting temporary workers; and implementing a tough but fair path to legalization for those already here,” wrote Graham and Schumer. “We would require all U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who want jobs to obtain a high-tech, fraud-proof Social Security card.”

The national ID cards would include a “unique biometric identifier,” according to Graham and Schumer. Some of the likely candidates include finger prints, retinal scans, or even the layout of a person’s veins in the top of their hand. Employers who refuse to “swipe the card” would face “stiff fines” and “prison sentences,” the Senators noted. “Our blueprint also creates a rational system for admitting lower-skilled workers,” they added.

President Obama promptly signaled his approval and pledged to “act at the earliest possible opportunity.” The White House released a statement noting that the President would do everything in his power to push the issue, and Obama called the Schumer-Graham proposal “a promising, bipartisan framework which can and should be the basis for moving forward.”

After the Democrats recent success in ramming through the wildly unpopular health care “reform,” analysts suggested the “momentum” from that victory could help Obama and the Democrats in their efforts to pass a variety of legislation – including immigration “reform.” And despite broad opposition by a majority of Americans, the agenda marches forward.

But the proposals are already meeting fierce resistance from legislators, citizens and non-profit groups. “This so-called comprehensive immigration reform really means amnesty for the 10 to 20 million illegal immigrants in America today,” explained Republican Representative Brian Bilbray of California, the chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus. “What part of the word ‘illegal’ doesn’t the president understand?”

Congressman Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty sent out an e-mail to supporters vowing to battle the proposal as well, warning that it was a “statist’s dream” and that the immigration issue was being used as “cover” for an even bigger agenda.

“Instead of controlling the border and enforcing the rule of law, these statists want to control you,” explained the group’s president, John Tate. “Allowing our government to have this much ‘prying power’ in our lives will ultimately result in the TOTAL loss of freedom.”

Tate noted in the letter that this sort battle often determines whether a country will remain free or descend into tyranny. “You see, once ‘well-meaning’ government bureaucrats know exactly how we live our lives, it won’t be long until they try to run them,” added Tate. “In fact, it will only be a matter of time until they spend their workdays making sure you and I don’t go anywhere we ‘shouldn’t,’ buy anything we ‘shouldn’t,’ read anything we ‘shouldn’t,’ eat anything we ‘shouldn’t’ or smoke anything we ‘shouldn’t.’”

In the media, commentators have also blasted the proposal. “Graham’s [Republican In Name Only] tactics will enable the President to turn illegal aliens into documented Democrats.  And in the process, hand the Federal Government yet another way to monitor and control our lives,” explained Roger Hedgecock in a piece for Human Events. “Opposition to this tyranny will come from all parts of our divided political spectrum,” he predicted.

And indeed, even the liberal American Civil Liberties Union is gearing up to fight the “bipartisan” effort. “It is fundamentally a massive invasion of people’s privacy,” said Chris Calabrese, the ACLU’s legislative counsel. “We’re not only talking about fingerprinting every American, treating ordinary Americans like criminals in order to work. We’re also talking about a card that would quickly spread from work to voting to travel to pretty much every aspect of American life that requires identification.”

These amnesty and biometric national ID proposals are dangerous for a lot of reasons. And this battle is a crucial one. The Social Security cards will quickly go from being required to work — which is bad enough itself — to being needed for everything imaginable, from health care to everyday purchases. But the problem is not a lack of biometric ID cards for the serfs; it is the wide open Southern border and the unconstitutional incentives encouraging illegal immigration.

Legalizing the tens of millions of illegal immigrants will harm America on several fronts. Not only does it send a loud message that the rule of law means nothing (except if it furthers statist aims), it will also fundamentally alter the voting dynamics of America. The true solution to the illegal immigration crisis is to stop providing perks like welfare to law breakers, and to properly police the border and defend the states from invasion.

Citizens must unite to defeat this effort. If Obama and his allies like Senator Graham manage to force this monstrosity on the American people, the last remaining semblances of freedom will be in critical danger. Americans already said no to amnesty under former President George W. Bush. Why would adding an unconstitutional national ID scheme with biometric data make it any more desirable? This is not the “change” people voted for, and it must be opposed.

Photo of Senators Schumer (left) and Graham: AP Images

As concerns over identity theft and ATM or other financial transaction fraud continue to rise, some are pushing for biometric authentication technology to be integrated into ATMs and possibly other devices used in financial transactions. In an article from NEXT, a number of flaws in the current system for ATMs as well as a number of examples of how wrongs can be righted are cited.

Among the flaws, the article is quick to point out the ease with which fraudsters can clone cards, or more commonly in developing countries, get vital account information such as PIN numbers from acquaintances working for banks. Additionally, this call for ATMs with biometric authentication capability is not a call for new technology necessarily as banks such as Western Bank in the U.S., Banco Falabella in Chile, Groupo Financiero Banorte in Mexico, Barclays Bank in the UAE and many others around the world are already offering such technology to their customers.

The EU’s own working group FIDIS (the “Future of Identity in the Information Society” research network) said safeguards on the biometric ePassports with embedded Chip were too weak.

By: Michael Scott Moore | March 17, 2010 | 05:00 AM (PDT)

One detail from the assassination last month of a Hamas leader in Dubai should, at first glance, ease the minds of privacy experts. None of the hit team — widely suspected to be Israeli Mossad agents traveling under stolen identities — used newfangled biometric passports. The 11 members of the team traveling with falsified European identities, used old-fashioned, unchipped passports, according to Interpol.

Biometric passports were one of the most powerful and unobtrusive changes to international travel that the United States insisted on after Sept. 11, 2001. As a direct result of U.S. pressure, all EU governments introduced more-expensive passports after 2006 that included RFID microchips to broadcast basic personal information, including name and passport number, your photograph, your fingerprints, and (if it’s been collected) a retina scan of your eye.

Washington demanded these passports from friendly countries that maintained visa-free travel agreements with the United States. To stay in the visa-waiver program, Washington said after 2001, friendly nations would have to upgrade their passports to high-tech, microchipped “ePassports” with machine-readable data.

The new documents belonged to what Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff once envisioned as “a worldwide system of tripwires,” set off by personal data, “that make it easy for the vast amount of travelers to move along unimpeded but that make it dangerous and difficult for terrorists to do the same thing.”

But they upset privacy experts who argued that RFID chips radiated unsecured personal details to the world, making it easy for criminals with a simple machine to read them. The EU’s own working group FIDIS (the “Future of Identity in the Information Society” research network) said safeguards on the first biometric passports were too weak.

“By failing to implement an appropriate security architecture,” the group wrote in 2006, “European governments have effectively forced their citizens to adopt new international Machine Readable Travel Documents (MRTDs), which dramatically decrease security and privacy, and increase the risk of identity theft.”

After 2006, both America and the EU gave “second-generation” e-passports a measure ofsecurity” though whether they’re really a safe way to carry your data around will be a topic for a future column. The “Crypto Group” at Belgium’s University Catholique de Louvain, says no, and Europol argues that the supposedly secure passports are still vulnerable to counterfeiting by “determined” criminals.

But it’s significant that the team of assassins in Dubai who killed the Hamas commander, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, used old-fashioned passports. Any group willing to send an international hit team after a man would have to qualify as “determined,” and Mossad, according to Victor Ostrovsky, a former Mossad officer interviewed recently on Australian radio, has a passport “factory” dedicated to making counterfeits. “They create various types of papers, every kind of ink,” he said. “It’s a very, very expensive research department.”

So the new ePassports are possibly too much of a headache ”for now” for such a sophisticated operation. But tests carried out by The Times of London in 2008 suggested that falsifying an ePassport wasn’t complicated at all, so there could be another reason why Mossad might have avoided using biometric documents. Namely: The databases themselves might be vulnerable.

Jerusalem hasn’t started to issue ePassports yet, and one argument used by their opponents in Israel is that an entire national database of personal details could be hacked and revealed wholesale to a government unfriendly to Israel — say, the United Arab Emirates. Then the border guards in that country would have a way of double-checking the identity of, say, a Mossad agent trying to enter. Then “every Israeli agent who gives his fingerprint at a biometric border control station is liable to be in danger of exposure,” according to the Israeli paper Ha’aretz.

“The fear … is not unfounded,” the paper continues. “A similar database, containing the identity details of Israeli citizens, was leaked a few years ago from the Interior Ministry and can be download today, for free.”

But Rafi Eitan, an Israeli politician and former Mossad officer, believes the agency’s intelligence talents will catch up. “By 2015 most countries will have moved over to biometric identification methods,” he told Ha’aretz. But “… this will not affect the various intelligence activities in the future, because I assess that the organizations engaging in this will find suitable ways to overcome the difficulties ”should there be any.”

There may come a time, in other words, when you’ll need the trappings of a government to do something as tricky as counterfeit a passport.

VIDEO: Cloning passport card RFIDs in bulk for under $250