With the recent unpleasantness that has ended with a Israeli diplomat from the UK, it serves as a reminder to look after your passport a bit more.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has updated their advice regarding travel to the region:
Quote:
UK passport holders should be aware of a recent Serious Organised Crime Agency investigation into the misuse of UK passports in the murder of Mahmud al-Mabhuh in Dubai on 19 January 2010. The SOCA investigation found circumstantial evidence of Israeli involvement in the fraudulent use of British passports. This has raised the possibility that your passport details could be captured for improper uses while your passport is out of your control. The risk applies in particular to passports without biometric security features. We recommend that you only hand your passport over to third parties including Israeli officials when absolutely necessary.
Whilst Biometric passports are considered by some “secure”, there have been reports of ease of access and hacks to the chips inside them (since 2006) with the Open Rights Group listing some of the issues encountered – especilly with the UK Implementation.
So what else can you do?
- Keep it in sight as much as possible
- Only hand it to qualified officials and again keep it in sight
- Consider an RFID Passport cover to shield your passport when not presenting it to officals
- If you loose it – contact the local consulate or the UK IPS service to register it lost
- And be on your guard… anywhere in the word.
