Press Release

For Immediate Release
6 April 2005

Business Travel Execs Slam RFID Passport Proposal

Alexandria, VA -- - Business travel managers, procurement specialists, and travel service suppliers slammed a proposal by the State Department to embed radio frequency identification tags (RFID) in passports. According to the most recent survey conducted by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), ninety-three percent of survey respondents are opposed to the security devices, which many feel may place Americans at risk.

"This overwhelming majority clearly indicates a lack of confidence in the current proposal," said ACTE President Greeley Koch. "This survey also tells us that the business travel community no longer has a blind trust in fully electronic security measures, as sixty-eight percent of the respondents indicated the government relies too heavily on these means."

The purpose of the RFID tags is to provide an additional level of passport security by making it more difficult to forge travel documents, while creating a more foolproof method of identifying individuals. Concerns that the embedded chips will either identify U.S. citizens to terrorists or criminals, or broadcast other information to relatively unsophisticated (and unauthorized) receivers, has dogged the RFID proposal since its inception. Travel managers are not buying the notion that it will speed up time spent at the borders either. Sixty percent of survey's respondents said neither the lines nor the wait times at the country's borders were too long.

There is also concern that the government is rushing headlong into the RFID deployment. Nearly half of the respondents (48 percent) had only recently heard of the RFID proposal. "This tells us that a stronger effort must be made to educate the industry on this issue," said Koch. "To this end, our Traveler Security Task Force has completed an industry analysis on RFIDs, which will be made available to our members on April 5, 2005.

Ninety-five percent of survey respondents directed ACTE to file commentary with the state department on their behalf. "ACTE's commentary to the State Department will reflect the opinions of our members, restate their objections, and spell out their concerns," said Koch. "As with CAPPSII, ACTE will deliver the message, loud and clear. That is the role of a responsive organization."

The Association of Corporate Travel Executives was founded in 1988 as the education and research resource for the global business travel management profession. ACTE is best known for its initiatives, studies, and surveys. The association currently represents the business travel interests of 2,500 members in 37 countries.

For more information, contact:
Debbie Flynn
CEO
Brighter Group
The Pod, London's Vertical Gateway
Bridges Wharf, Battersea
London SW11 3BE England
T: 020 7326 9880
F: 020 7326 9890
E: [email protected]
W: www.brightergroup.com