“The Paper Passport’s Days Are Numbered – Despite New Privacy Risks”
December 27th, 2024Via: Wired:
In a matter of years, no matter where you live or travel, your face will likely be your new passport.
For centuries, people have used some form of passport while moving from place to place. But the widespread standardization of passports as we know them today didn’t really begin until after World War 1, when passports were commonly used as a security measure and to deter spies entering a country. Even then, some considered passports to be an “anachronism in the modern world.”
But the use of paper passports—which were first digitized as “e-Passports” with NFC chips in 2006—is slowly undergoing one of its biggest transformations to date. The travel industry, airports, and governments are working to remove the need to show your passport while flying internationally. Eventually, you may not need to carry your passport at all.
Instead, face recognition technology and smartphones are increasingly being used to check and confirm your identity against travel details before you can fly.
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