The Chips are Coming, the Chips are Coming (but you can stop some)

There are two new updates this week in the world of RFID: The first is that as of Jan. 31 the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative mandate has kicked in. So if you plan on traveling between the United States, Canada and any other contiguous and non-contiguous U.S. border, either by land or sea, you better have some proof of citizenship. An oral statement of citizenry or an "I didn't know I needed proof" won't cut it, according to a Jan. 18 statement from DHS.

The second notable event is that some banks are willingly rescinding their RFID-chipped credit cards--if a consumer goes through the hassle of calling and requesting a new one.

Acceptable proof of citizenship documents include:
-U.S. or Canadian Passport
-U.S. Passport Card (Available spring 2008)*
-Trusted Traveler Cards (NEXUS, SENTRI, or FAST)*
-State or Provincial Issued Enhanced Driver's License (when available - this secure driver's license will denote identity and citizenship.)*
-Enhanced Tribal Cards (when available)*
-U.S. Military Identification with Military Travel Orders
-U.S. Merchant Mariner Document
-Native American Tribal Photo Identification Card
-Form I-872 American Indian Card
-Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) Card

According to DHS' press release, "travelers who do not present one of these documents may be delayed while U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers attempt to verify their identity and citizenship. Children ages 18 and under will only need to present a birth certificate."

Here's a little bit of justification for all documentation requests from DHS:
"During October to December 2007 alone, CBP officers reported 1,517 cases of individuals falsely claiming to be U.S. citizens. Last month, CBP officials determined that an individual falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen was wanted for homicide in California. This individual was paroled for entry into the U.S. and transported into the custody of the San Diego Sheriff's Department. Separately, multiple Government Accountability Office and Inspector General reports have highlighted weaknesses associated with oral declarations and substandard documentation."

The WITI-compliant cards (denoted by the asterisk in the list above) aren't available yet, mainly because DHS just recently released the regulations, and states haven't had time to react, or rebel, as the case may be. In many cases, those cards will likely be RFID enabled.

On a separate front, a blog post on The Consumerist earlier this week alerted me to the fact that you can, if you're so inclined, request that credit card companies send you a non-RFID chipped card. Not all credit card companies participate--and certainly not all customer service reps know what RFID is--so The Consumerist suggests card holders use the commercial name for RFID-chipped cards: Pay Wave.

Which are the banks that will issue non-chipped cards: Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo, according to the Consumerist blog.

Now if we could only do something about those chipped passports.