What could possibly go wrong?

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/03/26/outsourcing_passports_profound_liability/9799/

"The blank passports travel to Europe where a microchip is inserted in the back cover and then onto Thailand where they are fitted with a radio antenna. The Netherlands company that makes the covers for the passport said in October that China stole the technology for the microchips, the Times said.

Michelle Van Cleave, a former counterintelligence official, called the possibility of blank passports getting into criminal hands was a "profound liability" for the United States."

Brilliant! Imagine being able to say you came up with that idea.
A few years ago there was an ad in the Bangkok newspapers calling for someone to outsource the UK Embassy's visa processing. I think they need to make the civil service exams over there a little more challenging.