Wallet: Google is working on adding passport to its digital wallet

Google Wallet lets you store a large number of documents on Android smartphones. Very useful for keeping payment cards, train, plane or bus tickets close at hand, for storing loyalty cards or gym passes, this digital wallet also lets you store official documents, such as identity cards and driver's licenses, in the United States at least. The Mountain View giant does not intend to stop there and indicates that it is working on adding digital identity documents linked to passports within Wallet.

This is a beta version of Wallet that will offer the creation of a “Digital ID” by scanning exclusively US passports, and working only on part of the US territory: only a small half of the States support, in their airports, a validation of the identity of travelers via a digital document. The function should however speed up the formalities imposed during domestic travel in the USA, before opening up to new uses: Google assures that it is working with other partners to allow in particular the use of this passport on Wallet for vehicle rental or for identity checks. And of course, it wants to be reassuring on privacy issues and promises advanced encryption of personal data.

Facing Wallet, France Identity

While adding a US passport to Wallet is just as easy as adding a bank card, let's remember that we are still a long way from the generalization of such an option; Google remains cautious and invites its users to take their original identity documents with them. It should also be noted that despite the possibility offered to the French to add an identity card to Wallet, This digital version is not valid during a police check or border crossing : you must either take the original document with you or use the France Identité application. Available for just over a yearshe is also recently usable to prove identity on board SNCF trains.