Apple’s Digital ID is a glimpse at a future we all will need

Apple Wallet has made life a breeze for millions of iPhone owners worldwide. You can add all the bank cards in your wallet to your phone digitally and tap to pay securely. 

As a result, many of us now have less need to carry a wallet unless we are traveling or needing ID. But that task might soon be something you can do with just your phone.

Last November, Apple added the option for US passport holders to add their identity credentials to their phone. That’s in addition to a feature that allows US-based users to add their driver’s license, too.

With an estimated 120-140 million iPhone owners in the US, this is a game-changer and one that could shape the future of how the world deals with ID.

Convenience conquers all

Like all things Apple, simplicity sits at the core of Digital ID, the identification feature that sits inside the Apple Wallet app on an iPhone.

A user is prompted to scan the photo page of their physical passport to start the process, and then use the device’s built-in RFID capabilities to read the chip embedded on the back of their passport for authenticity. The final verification involves a series of selfies, then a Digital ID is created. It’s a similar process for a driver’s license.

It takes less than five minutes. 

Flashing the ID is easy, too. It uses Face ID identification and includes selective disclosure which means it can surface only the relevant information at the time without revealing personal information such as address.

The data is stored on the secure enclave feature on the iPhone, which keeps the data isolated from all third parties including Apple itself:

Digital ID in Apple Wallet takes advantage of the privacy and security features already built into iPhone and Apple Watch to help protect against tampering and theft. Your Digital ID data is encrypted. Apple can't see when and where you use your Digital ID, and biometric authentication using Face ID and Touch ID helps make sure that only you can view and use your Digital ID.

It’s important to note that this is not a replacement for a passport, but already it is very useful.

Digital ID can be used for in-person verification for domestic travel at more than 250 airports in the US. Back at the November launch, Apple promised to expand that number to develop "additional acceptance use cases” in the near future.

But already, this means an end to searching your bag for physical ID or even needing to remember to bring it in the first place. Simplicity is the most effective strategy for gaining adoption among the mass market of users, who won’t use technology simply for the sake of it. In that respect, Apple’s Digital ID has that locked down.

Potential to reach billions

Apple’s real power is its existing customer base, which gives its services the type of reach required for mainstream adoption. Beyond moving its own customer base of 1.5 billion active devices, its features often push rival companies to follow suit.

That’s the key for digital ID to go from novelty to revolution.

Google offers its own take through its Android operating system, which supports ID passes for US and UK passport holders. Like Apple’s Digital ID, Android ID Pass (as it is called) can be used for domestic US travel for now with more use cases to follow. Other lesser-known digital ID projects are also accepted at more than 250 TSA checkpoints so there is momentum growing.

There is a standard for mobile driver’s licenses (mDL), ISO 18013-5, which can be implemented by any service provider. That could be crucial for future adoption and interoperability, both of which are necessary for digital ID to take off.

A major push is likely to come with the development of the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet, which will bring these principles to the nearly 500 million people who live in EU member states. Interoperability with your iOS and Android device should be straightforward.

No system is perfect

Mobile-based ID is great until it isn’t. Some of the concerns include:

• What happens when you lose your device or it is stolen?
• What do you do if it runs out of battery or malfunctions?
• How do you transfer your ID if you change devices between iOS and Android?
• How do we cater to people who don’t have the necessary devices?

There is also a very real concern that governments might become reliant on handset device makers or software companies for a core public function.

That could happen in the future if there are features or functions that are not supported by one side, or if there are feature bugs or technology issues. A cyber attack on UK-based Gatwick Airport last year, for instance, knocked out baggage and check-in systems meaning staff and passengers had to revert to pen and paper. 

That caused disruption and hours of delays. The digital ID systems may work offline, but they are reliant on the technology that reads and processes their data.

By the same token, if an attacker gains access to your unlocked device, they have your identity. The secure enclave feature does mean, though, that there isn’t a trove of passport information data sitting on servers that could be attacked.

Digital ID systems will take a village

Apple's digital ID is not strictly about technology. It’s about the increasingly pressing concern of how we manage identity infrastructure in this modern and digital era, when it has never been more important.

The pace of technological advancement in even just the most recent couple of years now means deepfakes can clone voices and faces convincingly.

Artificial intelligence services can generate synthetic identities at scale. All the while, data breaches continue at alarmingly regularity, exposing yet more personal information used for decades of authentication. 

The old way of managing identity has always had its flaws. Be that realms of passport photocopies, credit bureau data and beyond. But when anyone can be impersonating, control access has never been more important.

Systems that verify your identity both online and offline will be essential for the next generation, and it’ll require collaboration across multiple industries to ensure it can work.

Digital ID must be kept simple and accessible, but it also has to be given capabilities that make it truly useful.