Your iPhone will be your passport (eventually)
Apple has never made much of a secret that its ambition with iPhone has always been for the device to replace everything in your pockets, including driving licenses and, pretty soon, your passport.
Apple promised US passport support at WWDC this year and a recent update on the company’s website continues to promise it will make its debut this year. Apple’s VP Internet Services, Jennifer Bailey confirmed these plans at a conference this week, saying the feature will let travellers present an ID at select TSA checkpoints.
This was always the plan
It has been a long time coming.
Over six years ago, Apple’s VP Internet Services, Jennifer Bailey,talked about the challenges of using iPhone to replace identification documents.
“The hardest thing is identity. And the reason is that identity, to be legal, right? It has to be government issued and has to be authenticated by the government. And while there’s interesting progress happening in this space, it’s not the fastest area of innovation relative to some others,” she said, adding later, “So it’s not too far away. It just won’t be as fast as some of the other activities we have.”
How will it work?
The iPhone will gather your passport information using the NFC chip embedded in the document. It uses a secure tech to verify the data, and once the passport is read and verified you will be able to use your iPhone as your passport.
Except, not quite. The iPhone digital passport won’t be valid for international travel, when you will still require the paper passport. The ID will instead only be valid at “select TSA checkpoints”. That basically means you’ll still need to carry your paper passport as well but may sometimes be able to use your iPhone at the small number of airports that support it. But it is a small step.
Will passports eventually go digital? Probably, but as government s become more obsessive on surveillance it is unfortunate they will likely attempt to weave unwanted features into the tech. We’re also a long way from any kind of international rollout of tech like this – Europe talks about digital ID but hasn’t delivered as yet.
However, the truth remains the same: One day your iPhone will be your passport. But it may take time before you travel exclusively with the device.
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