Your Passport And Driver License Could Soon Be Replaced By Your iPhone

We carry our phones with us all the time which makes it the perfect vessel for storing certain documents and cards, like credit/debit cards, loyalty cards, boarding passes, and more. However, it seems that Apple is envisioning a future in which the iPhone could potentially replace other documents like our passports or driver’s license.

In a patent discovered by AppleInsider, “A device implementing a system for using a verified claim of identity includes at least one processor configured to receive a verified claim including information to identify a user of a device, the verified claim being signed by a server based on verification of the information by an identity verification provider separate from the server, the verified claim being specific to the device.”

While it sounds interesting and promising, the idea of putting all of our eggs into one basket does give us a bit of pause. Losing our phone would also mean losing access to all our documents, but it is possible that maybe both digital and physical forms of ID can exist side-by-side, where if you’re traveling overseas, you might keep your passport in the safe in a hotel room, while the digital version is on your phone in the event that authorities need to check who you are.

Apple Pay VP Jennifer Bailey has stated in the past that this is something they’re exploring, but also noted that it might be difficult due to legal issues, such as governments needing to authenticate these digital documents to ensure they are valid. That being said, the idea of our phones being used to story our identification isn’t new, and in the past, we have seen initiatives from places like the UK where driver licenses can be kept digitally.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: iPhone, Patent, Social Hit