We have commented previously on the ePassport and its lack of security.

See the attached opinion of the EU Article 29 Data Protection Working Party on RFID tags in passports and its recommendations for steps to precede the introduction of the chipped passports.

We cannot see that Ireland took any notice of the Working Party’s recommendations, not to speak of, inter alia, the concerns of Civil Liberties groups in the USA and Canada.

For example, what State agencies, besides the Department of Justice Equality and Law Reform, have access to the ePassport database? The Garda Siochana?

If we are not close to Boston or Berlin, with what place are we close?