Passport covers>

Hype, plus paranoia.

Just marketing hype to sell a un-needed product. If really worried about that potential threat, wrap a piece of AL foil around it. Think about ---- assuming that someone could read your passport -- what would they get it????

This is Hype & Paranoia 101.

And, as often pointed out, passport details ARE NOT valuable information. The info is of no use to a criminal.
You give your passport details to airlines (which they pass on to the authorities in the destination country), and to hotels when you check in.

Pure snake oil. Don't forget if you have a cover of any sort, you will have to remove it when you hand over your passport to immigration officers, as the need to read both the written info and the chip.

as said many times on this helpline, that is a solution searching for a problem....

Would you protect your credit/debit cards? Of course you wouldn't...
It would be pure hell to peel off all that aluminum foil, every time you wanted to use them.

Thank you all!

The technology is called RFID Blocking
I have no idea if it is for real / needed or not but think of it more to protect credit cards than passports

It is not something I worry about but you should make your own decision.

I use a passport cover, have been doing that since the l990s. I put my passport in a cover that one used to get with bank books, ie when banks used to give you a bank book along with its cover after you opened up an account. I kept the covers.

The US passports with the RFID chip in them (the only ones that can be scanned remotely) have an RFID shield in the cover already. Only need to worry about someone scanning your passport info if you walk around holding it open to the picture page.

Only credit cards that need RFID protection are the ones you wave at the payment terminal. Those have an emblem on them that looks like a WiFi symbol. Any that you have to slide into the machine can only be read when slid into a machine, which includes most US issued chip cards.

Well, passports aren't passport cards, but the US passport card comes with an RFID protective sleeve and they tell you to keep it in there. I guess the State Department could provide a protective sleeve for the passport book as well, but protectors are cheap, so it's some inexpensive peace of mind. What's the harm?

Because nobody in his right mind would use one!

I see no point..

Your passport isn't as important to anyone else as it is to you. My passport has my name and place of birth on it.. nothing else ( other that date and place of issue and expiry) .. this is not top secret stuff and useless really to anyone else.

I wouldn't choose to use one because I don't want any added bulk either.

Over 45 years of over seas travel and yet.. have never had my passport scanned.. I don't see experienced travelers worrying about this.. that should be a clue .

Keep your passport safe , it IS important.. but as I said.. only to its owner really .

My passport has my name and place of birth on it.. nothing else ( other that date and place of issue and expiry)

Pat, you missed off the most important bit, it has your nationality on it. Without the passport certifying your nationality (and the implied right to re-enter your home country) it would be useless as a travel document.
It also has passport number.

My passport gets scanned at borders, at airport check-in and either photocopied or the number recorded at hotel check-in. Its importance is to prove who you are, as you say only to the owner.

I'll put a different spin on this. I use the paper envelope RFID covers for both passport, PP card, and each charge card. I use one for the Passport because I find storing it in this envelope keeps the PP useable for the full 10 years, rather than ending up looking like crap or being mutilated so that it might not be accepted. I use the envelopes for my credit cards/debit card as I've traveled and had them demagnetize each other, which is not worth the hassle. With the CC covers, that doesn't happen. I use the PP card cover because I have it. ...So not for RFID, but for other real reasons.

And I use the high-tech passport cover that comes in the Zip-Loc box -- to keep my passport from getting sweaty in my money belt. (Right next to the snack-size baggie holding Euros.)

chris. I know that.. but my point is.. what GOOD is that to anyone else.. if someone steals my passport info.. or my passport, what actual good is it to them?
This is about the information being scanned.. ( and the cover to prevent it).. but I still dont see how someone having my name, nationality etc is going to hurt me.

They do not have your address or your social insurance number.

I just did a three minute search and could not find it. But a while back I read an article that discussed passport security and the specific question about scanning. The article said it was much to do about nothing - mostly show. The article claimed that all that your passport has is a 64 digit, encoded number that ties to the data base. When it is scanned at immigration, it links to a data base and the information is pulled up. So if someone scanned your passport all they would get is an encoded 64 digit number. Absolutely useless unless they can break the code and access the data base. I will look a little hard to see if I can find that article.

If someone wants to know the places I've visited, all they have to do is ask. That's essentially what someone can get from your passport. The really important information is all in my head, that's why I always wear my aluminum foil helmet. It may make me stand out as a tourist, but you can never be too careful. ;-)

Someday people with RFID readers may be a threat. Right now, thieves make a perfectly good living stealing poorly secured items from those who are unprepared and/or unwary.

Brad, I always wear my helmet!

Couldn´t you just hit your passport with a hammer and crush the RFID chip? It seems like a simple solution.

Your passport will not be refused, unless it is severely mutilated...or if you do not have sufficient pages left.