Tuesday, April 21, 2009

US Passport Security Procedures Fail Under GAO Test - Security Watch

US Passport Security Procedures Fail Under GAO Test - Security Watch:

"If you have applied for a US passport in recent years you would have noticed that you have to bring a fair amount of documentation. But that doesn't mean you can't scam the process. A recent series of tests of the security of the passport application process by the US GAO (Government Accountability Office) showed that the measures to prove identity of the people applying for passports falls short of the mark:


  • Four genuine US passports were obtained using counterfeit or fraudulently-obtained documents.
  • One passport was obtained using counterfeit documents and the social security number of a man who died in 1965.
  • Counterfeit documents for a 53 year old man were used to obtain a passport using the genuine social security number of a 5 year old.
  • In none of the 4 undercover test cases were the fraudulent methods discovered.

It's hard to argue with results like this and the State Department is said, in the report, to agree that the problems are serious.

The problems described here might be addressed if the State Department actually verified the documents they demanded. But that doesn't solve all the problems in passport identity, as those documents themselves are not especially secure. And nothing to make passport application significantly more onerous will be sellable politically."

http://blogs.pcmag.com/securitywatch/2009/04/us_passport_security_procedure.php

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