Your passport and RFID tracking

About a year ago, I returned to the USA from a driving trip in Canada. We drove from Montreal, Quebec to Vermont, and entered through a non-descript entry point on the road.

My wife & I are dual citizens (Australia and US). So we carry two passports each. We turned up to the US checkpoint, which was literally a lady sitting in what can only be described as a booth the size of an old telephone booth. We stopped and she ran our passports there on the computer.

Interestingly she said, "I see you are Australians". I never told her that. I might have an accent, but we barely spoke. Either she is a mind reader, or something else was at play....

RFID is active at border entry points in USA

I'm sure this is no surprise, but when you come face to face with it, it is a bit shocking. When you enter a US entry point, any passport you are carrying that has the RFID chip in them (pretty much all of them have this, particularly if you renewed your passport in the last 8 years or so), broadcasts to the immigration receivers who you are well ahead of when you stand or sit in front of the immigration officer. They already know everything about you. They just ask a lot of confirming questions.

Big brother is definitely watching. You can't lie. They already have all the data on your right there, and if they catch you out in a lie by asking a leading question like, "How many days did you leave the country", etc. then you get flagged and off to the back room you go for "special processing".

I've always wondered how they determine that those that enter the USA on a VISA Waiver program for 90 days can be tracked for their exit if they neglect to hand in the card on exit. I can see now that the RFID tracking covers that.

Is this legal?

Sure is. I mean if you enter the country, you submit to their laws. And for US citizens there is that 100 mile exclusion zone at border entries where your constitutional rights don't apply. They can seize anything you are carrying and they can analyze your data. They can even seize BTC wallets and require you to disclose how much you are taking out or in with crypto currency. Pretty much they are in control.

So you are consenting to all of this when you enter the USA. Don't expect to be some invisible or anonymous entrant. They know more about you when you leave your home country and board the plane than you think.

But I want my privacy

Ummm... Yeh. About that. You don't have any when you travel. At least if you exit and enter through legal and tracked points. This is normal. And I am sure it isn't limited to the USA. With the advent of technology in travel, you are a data point in a big database and you are linked as you travel.

The only thing you might be able to do, to at least stop some of this, is to use some RFID blocking wallet.

These devices stop the broadcast of RFID data from anything placed within them. Recently I ordered one of these for my phone, which has a nice set of credit card holders on them, since credit cards also can emit RFID.

It is from a company called Safe Sleeve. I don't get any kickback for recommending them, but if you are interested here is their website: www.safesleevecases.com They are pretty affordable and I'm going to start to use this with my mobile phone.

I'm thinking of doing the same with passports. It isn't that I'm not willing to give up my privacy for the right to roam the world, but it just feels like an unwanted intrusion to be watched without permission.