[tjohns]

Yes, that's correct. There have been apps on iOS and Android that can read your passport via NFC for ages. As you noted, all you need is the plaintext information printed on the photo page to generate the Basic Access Control key, which will let you connect to the passport's NFC chip.

Issuing a passport is a different issue entirely, since you need a country's document signing key.

[vessenes]

quick note -- I believe you need a separate key to get biometric data out of the passports, but it's been a while since I looked at passport digital infrastructure.