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While I agree that this is not that great of an idea, for the security reasons already stated, it looks like it's going to happen no matter what. With that in mind, I think it's more productive to toss around ideas about how to shield one's passport from unauthorized reading than it is to grouse about it.With that in mind: Remember that the covers of the new passports will have a metallic weave that will create a Faraday Cage effect (<a class="user" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_Cage)&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_Cage)&lt;/a&gt; when it's closed. You can improve on that effect by carrying any RFID-equipped passport in an ESD shielding bag with metal-in coating (<a class="user" href="http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail?Ref=136834&amp;Row=26422&amp;Site=US)&quot;&gt;http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail?Ref=136834&amp;Row=26422&amp;Site=US)&lt;/a&gt; If you don't feel like buying the bags in bulk, a quick visit to any large electronic supply place (NOT Radio Shack -- I doubt they even know what ESD is, let alone about the shielding bags) should net you one at no cost. In any case, any reader system with enough power to break through such an enclosure would most definitely not be portable enough to easily conceal.There is, of course, the option of sticking your passport, folded open, into a microwave oven for about a second or two of exposure. That would most certainly fry the RFID chip. However, it might also leave a visible burn mark on your passport where the chip is located, and there is also the question of whether the passport would still be accepted as valid.The bottom line is that inexpensive precautions are readily available to those who care (yes, I do -- I plan to use the ESD bag method myself).Happy travels.

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