Identification via smartphone – Apple wants to offer its users this option in the future. If the tech company has its way, the wallet app on the iPhone should be a wallet and a set of keys in the future.
Test objects to get started: digital ID and driver’s license. The security authorities at select US airports should be the first official places where the digital ID will be applied.
change on Apple iOS15 page, Which is also the gate Mac rumors An attentive reader has noticed that the new ID feature for iOS 15 and watchOS 8 is no longer being introduced this year as planned. Instead, it should be “early 2022”.
The company announced in SeptemberThe plan is to begin implementation as early as the end of 2021 in Arizona and Georgia, in the United States. Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma and Utah should follow suit. A US-wide institution is envisaged in the long-run, and international plans are likely to follow.
In the end, not only your ID card and driver’s license, but also digital copies of house keys, hotel room key cards, car keys, and workplace IDs should end up in the wallet.
Apple defines the planned operations around the digital ID as follows: if you want to add a document to your wallet, you can do so using the corresponding plus button. Driver’s license or ID is checked using the iPhone’s camera, and users are also required to upload a selfie. The survey and the self-portrait are combined and handed over to the responsible state, which conducts the review. A number of facial and head movements must also be made during the preparation process. Once the document is verified by the government, it is added to the wallet.
Important to the identification process: Users do not have to give their devices to third parties in order to provide a digital document. Instead, appropriate reading devices on iPhones or Apple watches should allow for touchless identification. The reader shows the information requested by the security authorities, then users issue it via touch or a face print. However, unlocking your iPhone or Apple Watch is not necessary.
In showcasing its features, the tech company repeatedly emphasizes how much security is taken care of. For example, neither Apple nor the countries that issue the digital ID should know where and when users provide the digital ID.
In addition to the euphoria of Apple, which has now subsided a little, there is also criticism: Skeptics argue that sovereign tasks such as managing identity documents should not be taken over by a commercial company like Apple. In addition, such projects, if any, must be regulated by an open security architecture that must withstand critical public scrutiny.