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Digital ID, a new way to create and present an ID in Apple Wallet
- robin_reala 11mo ago…in the US.
- barbazoo 11mo ago... for U.S. passports.
- pkolaczk 11mo agoWe don’t need it in Poland. We’ve been using a similar but official government issued app with ID, driving license, car documents for years now. Works both on Android and iPhone. Can be also used for logging into government web apps like taxes, for document signing or for voting. And it reminds me whenever my car insurance expires or it needs the annual check. Pretty impressive IMHO.
- withinboredom 11mo agoAnd if you live outside the US with a US passport, you can't use it.
- BikDk 11mo agoNo battery, no personality.
- willio58 11mo agoI’m still waiting for the day where 100% of state drivers licenses are supported in wallet and anyone requesting ID are required to accept them. Quite literally the only reason I have a wallet these days is for the drivers license.
- teeray 11mo ago> and anyone requesting ID are required to accept them This is the big one. I've seen a lot of states where digital drivers licenses are issued, but many retailers are like "lol no, we want the card." It needs to be legally enshrined as identical.
- avs733 11mo agoI've had state government (including both cops and clerks) refuse to acknowledge my digital ID in my state.
- risico 11mo agoSame, although most of the time, at least cops, accept a photo of the actual ID card/driver license where I live (Romania), at least it worked the last time I got pulled over.
- astroflection 11mo agoNope. I will continue to have a DL card so I can choose to leave my phone at home. When we are required to have our IDs on our person at all times I can at least not be tracked everywhere I go. Be watchful for legislation requiring: * us to have our ID on our person at all times. * IDs to be issued in digital format only.
- phantom784 11mo agoGoogle Wallet supports this as well, but not for passports, only select state drivers licenses. https://support.google.com/wallet/answer/12436402?hl=en https://support.google.com/wallet/answer/12436402?hl=en I wonder if passports will come to Google soon as well - that'd open it up nationwide as long as you have a passport.
- Clent 11mo agoApple also supports select state drivers license. I would definitely expect Google to follow quickly.
- throw0101d 11mo ago* https://learn.wallet.apple/id#states-list https://learn.wallet.apple/id#states-list
- FateOfNations 11mo agoGenerally the hangup/timeline is with the state government, not Apple/Google.
- pxeboot 11mo agoGoogle Wallet has supported passports for about a year now [1]. Works great at TSA. You scan it yourself. You never need to hand them your unlocked phone. [1] https://support.google.com/wallet/answer/15284332?hl=en https://support.google.com/wallet/answer/15284332?hl=en
- altairprime 11mo agoHonestly, hooray for dragging the U.S. into everyday people having a federal ID in their pocket. Having to check fifty different ID layouts times three revisions is a nightmare and no one uses passports domestically today outside of airports.
- SilverElfin 11mo agoI feel uncomfortable with these changes. Between this, digital currencies, airlines not doing printed boarding passes, metros requiring smartphones, … it feels like we are going to lose control and privacy as consumers.
- bigyabai 11mo ago[flagged]
- stavros 11mo agoYou can be wrong or you can be an ass, but, unfortunately, you're both.
- bigyabai 11mo agoWhat's your magic solution, then? Tattle to the FTC? Beg the President to reign in Tim Apple before he manifests the antichrist? I'm afraid you're the wrong one here, this is our fealty to Apple paid back in due. If I have to be an ass to get people to stop buying surveillance slopware, so be it. You have no other option at this point, I'm not going to canvas for your rights as an Apple customer in 2025. This is what you support when you give them your money, enjoy! Edit: I am addressing the OP's point. You called me wrong - I am defending my original point to OP, while illustrating why your dismissal is not relevant to the discussion.
- stavros 11mo agoWrong assumptions in your comments: 1. I'm an Apple customer. 2. I live in the US. 3. It's a free market.
- josh_today 11mo ago[dead]
- xd1936 11mo agoI am never handing my phone to a cop.
- bitpush 11mo agoI get what you're saying, but if you think of it what we're doing today - handing over the one and only official piece of document to a) cop b) club bouncer etc. They can hold onto it, and never return it. They can deface it. All of that is a possibilty. You could argue, a sufficiently locked down phone is a better alternative. If they do something, you'll only lose $$
- barbazoo 11mo ago> They can hold onto it, and never return it. They can deface it. All of that is a possibility. But they can't potentially look at your banking app, read private notes, messages and emails, operate your home automation, look at your calendar, etc. if all they have is a plastic card.
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- magnetic 11mo agoThey can't do that either with Wallet items. That's kind of the point: you can hand over your phone with a wallet item "unlocked" and visible on the screen, and that's all they'll have access to.
- barbazoo 11mo agoSure but then you've already given them your phone after which you don't know what happens. Plus it's a lot of leverage for them to have it, e.g. "unlock or you won't get it back".
- iamnothere 11mo agoUntil they covertly plug it in to the Cellebrite unit back in the patrol car.
- chiph 11mo ago> They will also be asked to use their iPhone to read the chip embedded on the back of their passport to ensure the data’s authenticity. I installed an RFID app from the Apple app store (3rd party, not from Apple) and it couldn't read the chip in my passport. Perhaps Apple's firmware was filtering those out at the time?
- chocolatkey 11mo agoI was able to use the (free) app “ReadID Me” to decode passport information months ago
- sublimefire 11mo agoThere was a post from trailofbits blog recently about how passport crypto works. Kind of related here. I wonder if this is some zero knowledge proofs here or what? Reading the passport and its chip implies some terminal authentication capabilities coming from Apple devices. Passport would not allow reading sensitive data from the chip unless the terminal is valid. Another question is if Apple is allowed to read your biometric data?
- internetter 11mo ago> Reading the passport and its chip implies some terminal authentication capabilities coming from Apple devices They’ve had some form of this for ages with Apple Pay
- sublimefire 11mo agoSorry I was meaning to say "passport terminal" capabilities which would require a cert to be issued by a country whose passport chips you want to read. Well maybe they had this for a while but AFAIK you could not read passport details with an apple device before
- frankus 11mo agoFrom that article it looks like all you need to establish a secure connection with the passport is some data that is printed in plaintext on the photo page. It seems (again, if I'm reading correctly) that you only really need a private key in order to issue a passport.
- tjohns 11mo agoYes, 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.
- pmkary 11mo ago[flagged]
- alberth 11mo agoAs an aside, I've been using TSA Touchless at select airports. It's pretty slick. No ID, nor Board Pass needed. Just walk up to TSA, and only facial recognition is needed. It's extremely fast too. https://www.tsa.gov/touchless-id https://www.tsa.gov/touchless-id
- SV_BubbleTime 11mo agoSurely nothing nefarious has ever been promoted with the offer of convenience!
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- BriggyDwiggs42 11mo agoNow that we’ve got ice walking around with an app that uses facial recognition to determine if you’re a citizen, fuck the facial recognition stuff. This tech should be out of government hands.
- 0x457 11mo ago> Now that we’ve got ice walking around with an app that uses facial recognition to determine if you’re a citizen, fuck the facial recognition stuff. This tech should be out of government hands. When I was in LAX last week, facial recognition on entry was only for US citizens anyway, and for it to work they need to take a photo of you when you're leaving. I don't see how it helps ICE in any way, plus it's handled by CBP. Also, it didn't work on me, because I left clean shaved and returned with a beard.
- sugarpimpdorsey 11mo agoCan we use this for voter ID?
- SV_BubbleTime 11mo agoYou have to show ID to vote in my country, I thought that was the normal thing.
- hexis 11mo agoIt is, many states in the US are abnormal in this way.
- baggy_trough 11mo ago[flagged]
- drdaeman 11mo agoNo party in the US seem to fight for a secure (end-to-end auditable) voting process. I've yet to hear any politician talk about anything like that, a process where no voter has to trust the system and can be still confident (assuming they understand the underlying math) their vote was counted and counted correctly. It is true that every scheme out there (that I've read about) has some flaws. But I'd rather have NSA spending their budgets and talent working on this kind of stuff, than spying on citizens or whatever they do. The current discourse is all about identification during registration vs when voting. Which is meaningful but feels like avoiding the actual issue, as it is still not really secure either way.
- kayodelycaon 11mo agoThe reason is nobody trusts a single party to implement that honestly. Last time I checked, Party X only cared about Party Y’s voters who are voting illegally. They’re perfectly fine with their voters doing it. Technology is a tool against corruption not a cure for it.
- pookha 11mo agoDigital ID is a misnomer, it should be called "Digital Social Application". These are NOT ID"s. They're government dreamcasted app's for managing the lives of civilians.
- velomash 11mo agoIt’s inevitable that identification and payments continue to digitize. I’d prefer that physical ID / cash remain legally protected but that I can also go for a run with only my watch and buy a beer afterward
- stavros 11mo agoI'm really wary of these initiatives, because perfect law enforcement is how society ossifies. Imagine if we could prosecute all homosexual tendencies when they happened, or all interracial relationships, or any other antiquated law. Society would never progress. What happens if the government can now perfectly enforce that people under 18 can't do X or Y?
- pat2man 11mo agoHow does this apply to a digital version of an official government ID? The government already has all this data.
- stavros 11mo agoI didn't say anything about the data the government has or doesn't have. I'm talking about perfect enforcement. Try faking a digital ID.
- watermelon0 11mo agoWe have this issue already with biometric passports and ID cards.
- alwa 11mo agoAnd, specifically, frictionless perfect enforcement. Kind of like CCTV you can pull on request after a crime, vs proactive permanent ubiquitous surveillance (looking at you, Flock Safety). It feels healthier for the enforcement apparatus to have a budget, in terms of material personnel or time, that requires some degree of priority-setting. That priority-setting is by its nature a politically responsive process. And it’s compatible with the kind of situation that allows Really Quite Good enforcement, but not of absolutely everything absolutely all the time. Otherwise ossification feels like exactly the word, as you said, stavros: if it costs nothing for the system to enforce stuff that was important in the hazy past but is no longer relevant, nobody wants to be the one blamed for formally easing restrictions just in case something new bad happens; 20 years later you’re still taking off your shoes at the airport. (I know, I know, they finally quit that. Still took decades. And the part that was cost-free—imaging your genitalia—continues unabated.)
- the_sleaze_ 11mo agoSomeone recently joked about Apple holding elections on the iPhone with Face ID to verify your voting eligibility. Hmm..
- lvl155 11mo agoI am against digital IDs. There’s a reason why security-minded people carry around physical hardware keys. The fact that Apple remains a black box company means I can’t trust them now and definitely not later when their changing financial circumstances COULD jeopardize management decisions and commitment to privacy.
- kkfx 11mo agoNo thanks. It's 2025, identity needs to be resilient, so having a national public blockchain that every public administration entity, every private who wants to participate, compensated for the IT resources they provide, whether a citizen or a business maintains well, that makes sense. The fingerprint of a key is shared, this key is on a smart-card, therefore offline, on well-known (bank cards, SIM cards) proven and reliable platforms, and signs what is needed with zk proofs where required. Identity on mobile, proprietary platforms, whose level of complexity makes it humanly impossible to understand them even for governments themselves, notoriously closely monitored and yet with a long history of bugs and problems, is UNACCEPTABLE. It's time to understand that IT is the nervous system of society and that public information must be public, for everyone, not for a specific actor and with no specific actor being "more equal" than others.
- emptybits 11mo agoWhile Apple has some admirable history in standing up to government information requests[1], am I alone in wondering now if Apple has started to voluntarily align itself with the current administration? For example, Apple is helping to build Donald Trump's new gold-plated ballroom.[2] (!) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple%E2%80%93FBI_encryption_dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple%E2%80%93FBI_encryption_d... [2] https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/trumps-ballroom-funded-by-americas-biggest-companies-wealthy-individuals-2025-10-23/?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/trumps-ballro...
- varispeed 11mo agoApple has introduced ankle tag. It's just legislation away for everyone to be tracked in realtime and perhaps even listened to, initially for "keywords" to protect <insert group of people>.
- withinboredom 11mo agoDoesn't seem to work if you are outside the US, it's not even an option to add.
- sschueller 11mo agoNo thank you. I am glad that the first eID vote we had on this (in Switzerland) prevented private industry from issuing IDs etc. What we have now (upcoming, after another vote) is an open source[1] non centralized eID issued by the government.[2] Although there are still some problematic points (initial issuance software is not open source and who can ask for the ID is not limited enough) the solution we have now is the best way to do such a thing at this time. [1] https://github.com/swiyu-admin-ch https://github.com/swiyu-admin-ch [2] https://www.eid.admin.ch/de/swiyu-coming-soon-d https://www.eid.admin.ch/de/swiyu-coming-soon-d
- crazygringo 11mo agoWhy "no thank you"? I am very much thank you. I'm still waiting for Apple to support the driver's license from my state. It will be one less thing to carry. There are literally no downsides. My state already had me in its electronic database because I'm a driver. The TSA already has me in its electronic database. Apple already knows exactly who I am from my many credit card purchases with them. It's not taking away any privacy. Having my ID on my phone gives me convenience and doesn't take anything away. Obviously this isn't mandatory nor should it be. Physical IDs aren't going anywhere. But I already keep all my credit cards in my Apple Wallet. I want to keep my driver's license there too.
- ericmay 11mo agoAgreed. And perhaps most importantly it is saving me $35 for that absolute fucking scam that is “Real ID”. Normally I carry my passport when I fly but now I won’t even have to do that.
- jcon321 11mo agoYou have no issues with handing over your cell phone to a police officer who pulls you over? I imagine you'll say "all I have to do is present an ID", but what if the officer cannot read it, so he wants to hold it? Okay you wont let him hold it, so he bends down and gets real close to your phone? You know he must verify the address against his database, so you're going to make him write down your address as he walks back to his car? Yea some people cannot afford this type of friction when dealing with police officers.
- zombot 11mo ago[flagged]
- dawnerd 11mo agoI’m still going to keep using the digital id lane whenever I can. The gov and tsa already has my biometrics because of my passport + global entry + precheck status. Might as well use the much faster security lane. But this offering from Apple seems like it could be a nice choice for folks with passports but no desire to get pre or global entry. (Which seriously if you have a credit card that covers it, definitely do it)
- kukkeliskuu 11mo agoIn completely unrelated news, Spain’s PM proposes mandatory Digital ID for social media users at Davos. https://idtechwire.com/spains-pm-proposes-mandatory-digital-id-for-social-media-users-at-davos/ https://idtechwire.com/spains-pm-proposes-mandatory-digital-...
- mooiedingen 11mo agoThe age of digitized "Slave Certificates" is upon us... As only the "Masters" that are mandated by the government extending to the UN that "Need" it for you to prove who that you are who you are assigned as at birt(In case nature was involved) for when you are already made "Artificial" it comes build in... "How dare you fill in another name than WE ASSIGNED You?!?" In an age wherein everything is backdoored somehow voluntary or not, "You Shall still sync your digital twin!!!" So we can predict pre-crime whilst we are busy with depopulation & Migration(See press release last Bilderbergclub meeting!) Make no mistake as 95% of countries is looking to implement this.. for it is your right as defined by the United Nations(whenever democracy needs to be declared war!) (See joint declaration of 1942)
- stuffn 11mo agoYeah I'm not handling my phone to a police officer for identification. This will give them immediate probable cause to search my phone. It is INSANE to me that people are excited about this nonsense. Apple Pay at least made sense as a back up source for something inconsequential, legally speaking.
- fmajid 11mo agoDoesn’t give the option, perhaps because I am in London at the moment. The California e-driver’s license app didn’t have this nonsense restriction.