Don't Plant That Acorn, The Oak May Fall

The Post carries an article (Privacy Advocates Criticize Plan To Embed ID Chips in Passports ) that elicits the above response from me. The background--the State Department (and other federal agencies) are working to improve means of identification/authentication. The national Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued standards for ID cards that carry various data. The passport is one such card and State is proposing to include RFID chips in passports. (RFID chips send a radio signal to a receiver, like the don't steal tags on clothes or, in my library, the chips on books. Typically they send a very limited amount of information.) So privacy groups are attacking the plan. To quote:

"A government plan to embed U.S. passports with radio frequency chips starting this summer is being met by resistance from travel and privacy groups who say the technology is untested and could create a security risk for travelers."

What they say may be literally true, but so is the fact that the tree which grows from an acorn may fall and kill someone or damage some property. The reaction is somewhat like NIMBY (not in my backyard) reactions. There are always many reasons NOT to do something; it takes drive to get things done. The reasons often come flying when you're dealing with something new that people don't really understand.

My prescription in this case is for the State Department to open their testing process to the critics (on the assumption that any software development goes through multiple stages of testing). Give them the passports and be your beta testers. In my experience, it's usually better to try to co-opt your critics; they often have enough of a point that it's best to deal with it upfront, then ignore it and pay the cost later. But still, plant that acorn.