US citizens will be issued with “smart” passports
carrying a digitally signed photograph by late 2004.

The new passports will include an embedded microchip
that stores a compressed image of its owner's face. These microchips
will be designed to prevent tampering and each digital image will be cryptographically
signed to guarantee its authenticity.

Civil liberties groups fear that the introduction of
such international identity schemes could permit governments to monitor
the activities of citizens in unprecedented detail.