] After the panel, I discussed this issue with Kenn Cukier
] of The Economist, who has followed the development of
] this technology for a while and has a good perspective on
] how we reached the current state. It seems that the
] decision to use contactless technology was made without
] fully understanding its consequences, relying on
] technical assurances from people who had products to
] sell. Now that the problems with that decision have
] become obvious, it's late in the process and would be
] expensive and embarrassing to back out. In short, this
] looks like another flawed technology procurement program.

Freedom to Tinker: Why Use Remotely-Readable Passports?