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Ponga

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Oct 22, 2013
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Apologies in advance if this is `Old News'.

Did you know that a CBSA Primary Inspection officer (and would assume CBP, [going South] as well) at a land PoE sees the information from your passport before you even roll up to the booth.
https://www.us-passport-service-guide.com/why-you-need-a-new-passport-cover.html
https://www.swiftpassportservices.c...ot-know-about-the-microchip-in-your-passport/


But it's not completely automatic...
https://www.afar.com/magazine/the-decrypted-truth-about-the-security-of-your-passport

According to Holly and Sprague, in order for a passport’s RFID chip to be read, it needs to be within six inches of an RF reader. Thanks to a special piece of security tape buried in the cover of your passport, the data on the chip cannot be read when the passport book is closed. This makes it almost impossible for anyone to hack your passport’s RFID chip as you wander around an airport or travel destination.
{edit] *This appears to be old news, since apps are now (and have been) available for your phone that scan without opening the passport cover.*

As Tinker mentioned earlier, setting up such RFID readers is cumbersome. Many retail outlets use a similar technique to track the Bluetooth and cellular signals broadcast by their customers’ cell phones to track where they wander inside of a store and what they stop to look at. Using this technique on a larger scale, in the case of tracking someone’s passport, would be a logistical nightmare.

If you want something to be paranoid about, fret over your smartphone—it’s far easier to track than a passport will ever be.

Ok...didn't know that when I saunter through a store, but I digress!
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The same technology has been used with PR cards issued within (at least) the last 6 years.
https://icpimmigration.com/index.ph...cards-redesigned&catid=85&lang=en&Itemid=1003

"This new technology in addition to complete personal information of the card holder will provide all exit entry history of travelers to the Canadian border agency officers."

Hmmm...This may be reassuring to PRs that did not, knowingly, have their passport (or PR card) scanned crossing the border, or swiped by the primary officer, because apparently...it was. I've seen many posts where people say that their passport was never scanned or swiped...uh, yes it was.

This could mean that travel history records from CBSA maybe are as accurate and complete as possible, when it's time to renew your card...and you need a copy of the travel history...because your record keeping was a bit sloppy. Who said that?!
 
Last edited:
Apologies in advance if this is `Old News'.

Did you know that a CBSA Primary Inspection officer (and would assume CBP, [going South] as well) at a land PoE sees the information from your passport before you even roll up to the booth.
https://www.us-passport-service-guide.com/why-you-need-a-new-passport-cover.html
https://www.swiftpassportservices.c...ot-know-about-the-microchip-in-your-passport/


But it's not completely automatic...
https://www.afar.com/magazine/the-decrypted-truth-about-the-security-of-your-passport

According to Holly and Sprague, in order for a passport’s RFID chip to be read, it needs to be within six inches of an RF reader. Thanks to a special piece of security tape buried in the cover of your passport, the data on the chip cannot be read when the passport book is closed. This makes it almost impossible for anyone to hack your passport’s RFID chip as you wander around an airport or travel destination.
{edit] *This appears to be old news, since apps are now (and have been) available for your phone that scan without opening the passport cover.*

As Tinker mentioned earlier, setting up such RFID readers is cumbersome. Many retail outlets use a similar technique to track the Bluetooth and cellular signals broadcast by their customers’ cell phones to track where they wander inside of a store and what they stop to look at. Using this technique on a larger scale, in the case of tracking someone’s passport, would be a logistical nightmare.

If you want something to be paranoid about, fret over your smartphone—it’s far easier to track than a passport will ever be.

Ok...didn't know that when I saunter through a store, but I digress!
---



The same technology has been used with PR cards issued within (at least) the last 6 years.
https://icpimmigration.com/index.ph...cards-redesigned&catid=85&lang=en&Itemid=1003

"This new technology in addition to complete personal information of the card holder will provide all exit entry history of travelers to the Canadian border agency officers."

Hmmm...This may be reassuring to PRs that did not, knowingly, have their passport (or PR card) scanned crossing the border, or swiped by the primary officer, because apparently...it was. I've seen many posts where people say that their passport was never scanned or swiped...uh, yes it was.

This could mean that travel history records from CBSA maybe are as accurate and complete as possible, when it's time to renew your card...and you need a copy of the travel history...because your record keeping was a bit sloppy. Who said that?!

I seem to be in the minority here. However my experiences (pre-dating this chip thing) are that CBSA / IRCC have had access to very complete travel records for ages.

Before my husband became a PR (this is well over a decade ago), he was pulled into secondary during one entry into Canada as a visitor (I was with him) and CBSA literally read out all of his travel history right there to us for the last 8 months (they were giving us a hard time because of how much time he was spending in Canada). This included trips to the US (he's American) but also elsewhere. He had a large number of trips and they had everything. It freaked us out a bit (the level of detail).

My husband applied for citizenship almost decade ago. He's an international consultant and his travel history was VERY extensive. We kept a detailed spreadsheet of everything (or so we thought) and submitted all of those details as part of his citizenship application. He missed one single SAME DAY trip to the US. Guess who caught it? He ended up with RQ because of that one single same day trip.
 
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He missed one single SAME DAY trip to the US. Guess who caught it? He ended up with RQ because of that one single same day trip.
That's actually reassuring for those of us considering submitting an ATIP request for exit/entry history. Thanks for sharing!
 
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