The US State Department is backpedaling like crazy from their earlier statement that the RFID-enabled passports are safe and secure. In fact, now they're urging travelers to keep these passports in “radio-opaque sleeves” to protect owners from having their information skimmed by unauthorized readers within a 30-foot range. The State Department’s warning comes with the caveat that “hackers won’t find any practical use for data,” because personal information is encrypted. But that encryption has already been cracked.

As Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, notes, “By obliging Americans to use these sleeves [...] the government has, in effect, shifted the burden of privacy protection to the citizen.” Who wanted an RFID-chipped passport anyway? No one knows. But if you do happen to have one, do what Mark Ashley of Upgrade: Travel Better suggests "Break the chip. Pound it with a hammer." I'll add in there, as a message to the government: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.