Ticket security tight for Olympic ceremonies

updated 8:28 p.m. ET May 27, 2008

BEIJING - China has ratcheted up surveillance and security in every phase of the Beijing Olympics — even the tickets.

In a move unprecedented for the Olympics, tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies are embedded with a microchip containing the bearer's photograph, passport details, addresses, e-mail and telephone numbers.

The intent is to keep potential troublemakers from the 91,000-seat National Stadium as billions watch on TV screens around the world. Along with terrorists, Chinese officials fear protesters might wreck the glitzy ceremonies, unfurling Tibet flags, anti-China banners or even T-shirts adorned with strident messages.

Aside from concerns about privacy and identity theft, the high-tech tickets also threaten chaos at the turnstiles.

Tickets for the Aug. 8 opening ceremony are the most expensive of the games — a top price of $720 — and many are in the hands of dignitaries and friends. Delays could create terrible publicity on opening night.

"They should be concentrating on sniffing out the kinds of dangerous stuff rather than worrying about the identify of the people with the tickets," said Roger Clarke, an Australian security expert. His Xamax Consultancy in Canberra advises businesses in online security and identity authentication.

"The way in which you recognize an evildoer, somebody who wants to throw a bomb, somebody who wants to unfurl a Tibet flag is not on the basis of their identify," Clarke added. "It's the act that they perform and it's the materials they carry with them."

China was toughened visa restrictions and increased checks at hotels and entertainment areas — all designed to keep track of foreigners as the games approach. Several large public gatherings have been canceled. Thousands of closed-circuit TV cameras will be deployed in and around the venues. Organizers have acknowledged that some security officials will be dressed in volunteer uniforms. Passengers riding the subway and major bus routes will also undergo strict checks.

China has developed some of the world's most advanced RFID (radio frequency identification) technology, some aimed at keeping tight control over its citizens and borders. It's used on Chinese driver's licenses and ID cards.

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Chinese authorities initially considered tying all 6.8 million tickets to individuals, which was attempted two years ago in soccer's World Cup in Germany. German officials eventually backed off the plan — it made tickets difficult to transfer or resell — and scanned only 500-1,000 tickets at each game rather than all tickets.

The plan was aimed at deterring scalpers and soccer hooligans. But initially it caused long lines and criticism from fans and soccer's world governing body, which said it was too strict and elaborate.

Microchips are embedded in all Beijing Olympics tickets, but only opening and closing tickets contain the photos and passport data. This makes them — in theory — nontransferable. The other tickets are transferable, and the RFID technology is being touted as a deterrent and an anti-counterfeit device. That's useful in China, which produces fake products from DVDs to heart medicine.

Ticketmaster China, the official ticketing provider for the games, predicts every event in every venue will be sold out — an Olympic first.

"We noticed the problem in Germany in 2006, and we learned a lesson from them," said Yang Yichun, director of the technology department for the Beijing organizing committee. "We have made contingency plans to deal with any potential problems."

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