Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative PASS Card: Recommendations for Using Secure Contactless Technology vs. RFID

Glossary

• Biometric. A measurable physical characteristic or personal behavioral trait used to recognize the identity or verify the claimed identity of an individual. Facial images, fingerprints, and iris scan samples are all examples of biometrics.

• Contactless smart card. A smart card that communicates with a reader through a radio frequency interface.

• ePassport. A travel document that contains an integrated circuit chip based on international standard ISO/IEC 14443 and that can securely store and communicate the ePassport holder’s personal information to authorized reading devices.

• EPCglobal. The not-for-profit organization establishing and supporting “the EPCglobal Network” as the global standard for real-time, automatic identification of information in the supply chain of any company, anywhere in the world” and “leading the development of industry-driven standards for the Electronic Product Code” (EPC) to support the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in today’s fast-moving, information rich, trading networks.” Additional information can be found at http://www.epcglobalinc.org.

• EPC Generation 2 (EPC Gen 2). The specification developed by EPCglobal for the second-generation RFID air-interface protocol. EPC Gen 2 was developed to support supply chain applications (e.g., tracking inventory). The current ratified standard operates in the ultra-high-frequency (UHF) range (860-960 MHz), supports operation at long distances (e.g., 25-30 feet), and has minimal support for security (e.g., static passwords to access or kill information on the RFID device). The specification can be found at: http://www.epcglobalinc.com/standards_technology/EPCglobal2UHFRFIDProtocolV109122005.pdf.

• ISO/IEC 14443. The international standard for contactless smart chips and cards that operate (i.e., can be read from or written to) at a distance of less than 10 centimeters (4 inches). This standard operates at 13.56 MHz.

• RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). Technology that is used to transmit information about objects wirelessly, using radio waves. RFID technology is composed of 2 main pieces: the device that contains the data and the reader that captures such data. The device has a silicon chip and an antenna and the reader also has an antenna. The device is activated when put within range of the reader. The term RFID has been most commonly associated with tags used in supply chain applications in the manufacturing and retail industries.

• Smart card. A device that includes an embedded integrated circuit that can be either a secure microcontroller or equivalent intelligence with internal memory or a memory chip alone. The card connects to a reader with direct physical contact or with a remote contactless radio frequency interface. With an embedded microcontroller, smart cards have the unique ability to store large amounts of data, carry out their own on-card functions (e.g., encryption and mutual authentication) and interact intelligently with a smart card reader. Smart card technology conforms to international standards (ISO/IEC 7816 and ISO/IEC 14443) and is available in a variety of form factors, including plastic cards, subscriber identification modules used in GSM mobile phones, and USB-based tokens.

• Ultra-high frequency (UHF). Radio frequencies in the range of 860-960 MHz.