Passports - Future ??

The article is very interesting. It puts the purpose of passports in a different light than most of us probably think. Unfortunately its approach to the future of passports takes a very narrow focus solely on immigration uses.

I doubt the overly optimistic idea that physical passports will be replaced by only biometric scans by 2022, only 2 years from now, will happen. That's a lot of scanning to get every passport holder into the system. In countries that are very retentive in their approach to identification (the US for example, and some former Soviet block countries, as well as other current and former communistic states) and wanting to know who is who among visitors at all times, I see lots of difficulties to overcome. This could possibly be done for immigration purposes, but everything else a traveler uses their passport for will take longer. Will police in every small town jurisdiction have retina scanners or other biometric devices to check who the person is they just pulled over? Will hotels have scanners at the front desk? What will a traveler use for identification when using a credit card to make a purchase where the shop requires identification (even though technically the rules published by the credit card networks forbid requiring picture ID if the transaction is approved by the network)? And this isn't even considering the civil rights infringements many will claim the biometric data collection presents. Anyone remember the uproar over including the chip in the US Passports? Finally, the income stream generated from passports and visas will have an impact, especially in smaller countries, if those items are no more. Expect to see entry and exit taxes to become a big thing if the prediction comes true. Of course not having to carry around passport, or worrying about losing yours, would be very convenient and is big plus.

Great article , Frank . I'm reminded of the sad reminiscences of the author , Stefan Zweig , in his autobiography " The World of Yesterday " traveling in Europe after the war in 1918 . The necessity of having " papers " , and the feeling of isolation and restriction that accompanied it . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Zweig

I agree with Mark that it's highly unlikely that passports will go away. When I was in China 6 months ago, I had to show my passport 4 or 5 times a day. When I was last in Europe, I had to show it at least once a day as well. It stands in for the national identity card that natives of the country show. I doubt some little hotel or nature park is going to invest in biometric scanners.

Will police in every small town jurisdiction have retina scanners or other biometric devices to check who the person is they just pulled over? Will hotels have scanners at the front desk?

We already have this kind of stuff in Europe.... and it only costs a couple of $100 dollars....

What will a traveler use for identification when using a credit card to make a purchase where the shop requires identification (even though technically the rules published by the credit card networks forbid requiring picture ID if the transaction is approved by the network)?

We have not been able to use credit cards for nearly six weeks now.... it is all contactless payments... I don't even login on to my banking once a week now. An invoice comes in, I type their phone number to my smart app and that is it, payment done.

And this isn't even considering the civil rights infringements many will claim the biometric data collection presents.
It is already covered in Europe under GDPR, when you arrive in Europe, your data is scanned and shared just like everyone else.

If Europe we have had registration etc in place the Napolianvic wars.

In my wallet I have three cards: National Identify, which can be scanned by any police force or border control force in Schengen, Social Security, which has access to pension, social security taxes etc.. and health card which when scanned by any heather professional that I give it do, provides access to all my health records, healthcare benefits etc...

For us that is normal.

Frank,

This may happen eventually but I highly doubt that it's going to happen in the next two years. Something like this would require an enormous database with high speed access from all airports and other points-of-entry, and links to every country in the world, as well as mobile access (which will be easier when 5G becomes more common). Any disruption in the data links, either from technical problems or hacking, will bring everything to a grinding halt. I can't imagine that sophisticated data links will be set up at some small border station in the middle of a South American jungle or in some remote location in Africa.

It's easier for an individual country or even a region like the Schengen block to establish something like this, but setting this up to access data from every country in the world is going to be more challenging. Data sharing and access to personal information is already being done between the U.S. and Canada, but agreements would have to be established if a wider group of countries was included. I'd have some concerns about my personal data being shared with some countries in the world (I won't mention any names).

IMHO, Passports will still be required in the foreseeable future, but it's likely they will contain more biometric data accessible via RFID chips.

Interesting times we're living in....

There is a lot of correct history, but the author opines conclusions that are debatable. Yes, passports are a way to control when comes in your country. Most countries, even the ones with liberal democracies, insist on controlling their borders. I may be wrong, but I know of no US law that requires people that leave the country to have a passport. Yes, they would likely have a problem reentering with one, although, it once was easy to visit Mexico and Canada without a Passport. I personally did so several times some decades ago.

Passports will still be around for decades. Most people in the USA don't have passports, since you only need them to travel outside your country.

Passports would likely be replaced by a scanable card rather than a chip injected into the body. Americans would not go for the latter option. We have been on about 20 cruises and the cruise lines give you a key card that will open your cabin as well as include information on what promos you are entitled to and your loyalty status. Also, it includes a photo. Before you enter or leave the ship, you much have you card scanned.

Sweden and Norway plan to do away with cash and everyone would rely on credit, debit or other cards with the monetary equivalent.
The USA considered doing away with the penny, which is almost worthless, but many social warriors claimed that move would harm poor people. I served with the Army in Europe and at the penny wasn't used. When you used the commissary or PX, every clerk rounded up or down.

I suspect that criminal elements would oppose doing away with cash. That move in most countries is still decades away. I read a few years ago that 2/3 of the US dollars in currency are outside the USA.

We have not been able to use credit cards for nearly six weeks now.... it is all contactless payments.

You mention paying invoices online. What happens when you make a purchase grocery, for example? Can you use the tap to pay cards? Or is this also done via the online invoice option? And couldn't the online option route the payment to a credit card? Also, is this for everyone, or only Swiss residents? I know there probably aren't many tourists there at the moment, but I can't believe this is a permanent set up. This is all very interesting to me.

"What happens when you make a purchase grocery, for example? Can you use the tap to pay cards?"

It's possible here to pay for groceries or anything else using tap with either debit or credit cards. My debit card has a $100 per day limit for tap transactions, but my typical grocery order is under that so no problems. If the purchase is over $100, I have to insert the card in the machine and use the Chip & PIN method (select account and then enter password). I imagine Switzerland is much the same.

Ken, in March 2020 Desjardins Visa raised the tap limit to $250 from $100 for the foreseeable future to limit the amount of contact with the pin pad as a result of C-19. I hoping they keep it at that level, and hope others follow. For me, $100 is too low.

Peter,

Unfortunately the credit union I deal with here in Vernon still has a $100 limit. I know that hasn't changed as it wouldn't process a $103 tap transaction a few days ago, so I had to resort to the chip & PIN method. I might be able to ask them to raise my limit, but I've found that $100 is adequate for now.

I also have a Visa debit card from one of the banks but I don't use it often so not sure what the daily limit is.

Jim,
Not sure why you haven't been able to use your credit cards?
Using cash is more risky, since the virus can be on the bills.

I am using my card as usual. I plug the card into the chip machine and most of the time don't have to sign for it.

I think it will take longer than a decade. You have to have all countries agree to implement such a system, and have the infrastructure in place. We cant even agree on chip & pin credit cards. Heck, we couldn't even get RealID working in the US for 15+ years.

We still have the penny in the US because the zinc and copper mining lobbies persuaded their congressional partners to block the idea, not out of concern for the poor.

Using cash is more risky, since the virus can be on the bills.

For that reason, some vendors here have said they would prefer people use cards, and a few have even stopped accepting cash temporarily.