Passport Sleeve with RFID Protection

What is inside your passport

German passports have contained an RFID chip since 2005. It stores the data from the machine-readable zone, the passport photo and, since 2007, two fingerprints. The chip has no power source of its own. It draws energy from a reader's field and responds as soon as it is close enough.

Access is not unprotected. A mechanism called Basic Access Control means a reader can only decrypt the data if it has first optically scanned the machine-readable line inside the passport. Anyone who has not held your passport open cannot reach the contents.

What can still be read

Even without decryption, the chip responds to a reader. That response reveals no passport data, but it does reveal that a passport is present, and depending on the chip, which country issued it.

For most travellers that is not an acute risk. It matters where the mere presence of a passport, or your nationality, is information you would rather not broadcast.

We think it is only honest to say so plainly: a passport sleeve does not stop your passport data being stolen, because that would require the open passport anyway. What it does is stop the chip responding at all.

What a shielding passport sleeve does

A shielding sleeve contains a conductive layer. It dampens the electromagnetic field that would otherwise power the chip. Without enough energy, the chip does not respond.

This works passively, with no battery and no electronics. What matters is that the passport sits fully inside the sleeve. A passport sticking halfway out is not shielded.

What to look for

Shielding in the material. The protection has to sit in the layer that encloses the passport. A print or a label does nothing.

Full enclosure. The protection only works while the passport is completely inside the sleeve.

Fit. A sleeve that is too large lets the passport shift. One that is too tight damages the cover.

How to test your sleeve

1. Put the passport fully inside the sleeve.
2. Hold the closed sleeve against an NFC-enabled phone and open an NFC reader app.
3. No chip should be detected.

If the chip is detected, the passport is not fully inside, or the sleeve is not shielding effectively.

Cards and devices

For contactless bank and access cards, see wallets with RFID protection. For phones, laptops and car keys, where every radio signal should be blocked, a Faraday bag is the right solution.

Read more: Is RFID protection for your passport actually necessary?

TOCA designs and produces protection for cards, documents and devices. Designed in Germany. Built for everyday use.