What prevents the unauthorized reading or 'skimming' of data stored on the e-Passport chip?

• A. All e-Passports issued by the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries and the United States have security features to prevent unauthorized reading.
• B. There is no protection; anyone can read the chip with a standard reader.
• C. Security features exist only on the data page, not the chip.
• D. A password system protects the chip but is not universally applied.

Answer: (A)

The main idea is that the e-passport chip is protected by Basic Access Control, so unauthorized readers can’t skim the data. All e-passports issued by Visa Waiver Program countries and the United States include this protection, which requires a reader to prove it knows information from the passport’s machine-readable zone (MRZ) to derive keys and establish a secure session with the chip. Without those MRZ-derived keys, the chip won’t release its data, effectively preventing casual or distant reading of the chip.

This is why the other statements don’t fit: there is protection (not no protection), the protection is on the chip and requires authorized access rather than just the data page, and the standard approach isn’t a generic password system that isn’t universally applied—these passports use BAC universally.