Passport Rules Between the U.S. and Canada


By January 1st, 2007, everyone crossing the border between the U.S. and Canada is supposed to have a passport. This is because of terrorism, of course. But now we learn that ferries and private watercraft will be exempt.

While speaking to legislators and business leaders from both sides of the border at the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region's annual summit, Michael Chertoff said a "practical approach" is necessary.

"In particular, we will not be, for example, including in this set of regulations a requirement for passports for ferries or private watercraft, recognizing that this is a particular form of transportation that we don't want to interfere with," said Chertoff.

Either one of two things are true. Either passports are required for security, in which case we interfere with ferries. Or they're for show, in which case we can just do what's convenient. Or maybe we just know that terrorists never take ferries.

I get that security is a trade-off, but this is kind of silly.

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/07/passport_rules.html

Posted: Wed - July 19, 2006 at 11:42 PM          

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