Your passport is your most important travel document — and often the most difficult to replace if it’s lost or stolen. Beyond the inconvenience this can cause while traveling, savvy thieves can also use information found in passports to commit identity theft against you.
Observe the following tips to keep your passport safe & sound:
- Never pack your passport in your luggage.
- Keep your passport with you, concealed on your person, when taking tours or transferring between destinations.
- Do not leave it in a purse or outside pocket.
- Keep your passport locked away in a hotel or ship’s safe during your stay.
- Never surrender your passport to an unauthorized stranger.
- If you keep your passport in a suit jacket pocket, consider sewing an extra button or Velcro strip to keep the pocket securely closed.
Unfortunately, physical security of your passport is no longer your only concern when traveling. U.S. passports issued on or after October 26, 2006 contain an RFID chip. Although this chip was intended to be unreadable from more than 10 centimeters away, Wired news reported in 2005 that, “at least one test showed that a reader could read a passport chip from 30 feet away.”
While there have not yet been any documented cases of identity thieves using passport RFID chips to steal personal information, the risk is real. Several companies offer RFID blocking wallets and passports. ThinkGeek offers leather and stainless steel RFID-blocking passport sleeves, as does Paraben Forensics and a number of other retailers.
Further Reading
- Wikipedia article on U.S. biometric passports and the information they may contain
- Wired News article on security risks of RFID passports
