De La Rue, maker of passports and British banknotes, are looking to create a “Paperless Passport” which could be stored on a smartphone.
It was only a matter of time: boarding passes have had a digital option for some time now and credit/debit cards are becoming increasingly digitised with ApplePay and other similar services.
Now the world’s largest passport printer, De La Rue, is working on the tech that could store your passport on your phone.
Questions are already being asked over the security of a digital passport but De La Rue assure the doubters that security will be top priority but the project is in the “very early stages of development.”
Security and Identity
Mark James, ESET IT Security Specialist, believes that a digital passport is the natural next step for the classic burgundy booklet but security has to be the most important aspect from the start.
“As with all transitions from physical to digital security is of paramount importance: the idea of stealing your identity is a real concern and rightly so.
“Passports have always been the definitive means to identify you, holding not only your visual likeness but also the capabilities of storing digital information in the background.
“The idea of going to a full digital option will certainly ring some alarm bells for many but I think it’s a natural progression and with the right security measures in place could be the answer.
“The question is of course how secure will this data be? With so much of our daily lives being stored in the cloud how much of a problem is it that one more item joins it?
“Our phones have become so much more than a voice communication device. The ability to pay for many things with biometric authentication or store your boarding pass for airline flights leads the way to other services being available.”
Would you use a digital passport?
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