iPhone users can now add their passport details to their Apple digital wallets.
The company on Wednesday unveiled its new “Digital ID” system for users to add their U.S. passport information to Apple Wallet, which can be scanned at airport readers if travelers don’t have a Real ID.
Digital ID acceptance “will roll out first in beta” at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at over 250 U.S. airports for “in-person identity verification during domestic travel.”
The company warned that Digital ID doesn’t replace a physical passport and can’t be used for international travel and crossing borders.
To add your passport:
Open your iPhone’s Wallet app, tap the plus sign at the top, then tap the Digital ID option on the menu. If that doesn’t work type in “Digital ID” into the app’s search bar.
Follow the instructions. Use the camera to scan your passport’s photo page. Next, place your iPhone on the chip embedded on the passport’s back page to authenticate the data. Finally, verify your identity, first by taking a selfie and then by carrying out facial and head movements. Once the verification is done, the Digital ID will be added to the Wallet.
Using your iPhone to present your Digital ID is similar to using it to make a purchase.
Double-click the phone’s side button, which calls up the Wallet app. On the stack of cards, tap on the Digital ID. When it’s your turn at the TSA kiosk, hold your device up to the reader.
The machine will take your picture, and then your phone will let you review the information being requested. To authenticate those details, you’ll have to use the phone’s face or fingerprint scanner.
More than a dozen states already accept some form of a mobile ID at airport checkpoints, including: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia, as well as Puerto Rico.
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