ID chips in new US Passports -- a good idea?

I just read on CNN that beginning this year, new US passports will have a identification chip inside the cover. This chip will contain all the information that a paper passport contains, as well as a digitized photo and a face template for facial recognition software.The fact that this information will be unencrypted has the ACLU alarmed. Apparently anyone with a reader within 30 feet of a passport holder could gain access to all the information on their passport. Some of the reasons for concern are identity theft, possible targeting of Americans abroad by terrorists, government tracking and monitoring, and marketing. If a retail shop put readers in their doorways, they could get the information on each person carrying one of these ID chip-enabled passports. The government could scan members at meetings to find out who's present. Scary.At CNN, they suggest wrapping the passport in aluminum foil to prevent unauthorised reading of the card, creating a Faraday Cage. Nice.