Remember when you had to have a paper ticket to get on a plane? Seems like ages ago that e-tickets took over—and now perhaps the paper passport book is headed the same way.
The tech world is abuzz this week with reports that Google and Apple are developing technology to bring your passport to your phone.
Google Wallet is rolling out technology that will let you scan your passport to your phone, according to reports in Biometric News (Google Wallet takes next step with US biometric passports | Biometric Update) and other technology media this week. And, they say, Apple is not far behind.
The articles cite “code leaker Assemble Debug,” who already has posted pictures of what the Google Wallet page will look like.
AndroidAuthority.com, meanwhile, reports that the Google system will allow users to create an “ID Pass” and then tap their phones to an NFC readers or scan a QR code to present it to authorities. The feature will work for US passports at “various TSA checkpoints” when it becomes available—but for now, and likely as the technology rolls out, you’ll need the hard copy backup, it says (Google Wallet could soon add e-Passport support, but you’re still going to need the real thing (androidauthority.com). In Europe, it will store national ID cards used by the EU countries.
Code for integrating passports was shipped with the beta version of the Google Wallet, and Apple Wallet has reportedly already begun building a similar capability into its APIs, they say.
Google Wallet already can upload mobile driver’s licenses from several states, including Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, and Maryland.
But alas, AndroidAuthority reports, “the new e-Passport feature is not currently live within the Google Wallet app. Google is currently testing it within the app, and it may or may not roll out in the future.”
