Comment A seriously dumb idea (Score 1) 264
It's easy enough to think about how any technology that lets passports be read at range could be abused. How easy would it be, say, for a suicide bomber to use a portable RFID scanner to ensure that they choose a 'target rich' area in which to detonate themself? Even if the personal information was encrypted, the format of that information would probably betray the nationality of the bearer, which is certainly a characteristic plenty of unsavoury characters would want to know. Weight those risks against the complete lack of benefits and this seems a pretty dumb idea indeed.