[pct-l] passport & canada

[Gary Wright]

On Jan 19, 2010, at 4:14 PM, Thatcher Koch wrote:

> does anyone know how to find out what is on the chip that is in the new passports? also, how does the canadian border guards know if you have been convicted of a dui?

Canadian officials have access to US criminal record databases. This is similar to how a police officer can lookup information about you during a traffic stop.  As for the passport chip:

From <http://travel.state.gov/passport/eppt/eppt_2788.html>

> What is an Electronic Passport?
> 
> An Electronic Passport is the same as a traditional passport with the addition of a small integrated circuit (or “chip”) embedded in the back cover.  The chip stores:
> 
> 	• The same data visually displayed on the data page of the passport;
> 	• A biometric identifier in the form of a digital image of the passport photograph, which will facilitate the use of face recognition technology at ports-of-entry;
> 	• The unique chip identification number; and
> 	• A digital signature to protect the stored data from alteration.




Gary Wright (Radar)