In a groundbreaking move toward digital convenience, Google has extended its Wallet app to include storing a digital version of your US passport. This is part of the broader push by Google Wallet toward replacing the physical card and even documents with something safe, equally accessible, and smooth for managing important personal information. In any case, while this is a great way to make voyaging easier, there are significant limitations to the travel innovation. Note that digital wallets have improved convenience and security.
Google Wallet has long been a standby in modern digital wallets, being able to store everything from loyalty cards and concert tickets to boarding passes to transit passes. It’s a growing trend where physical wallets make their way onto smartphones to make people’s lives easier and simpler in daily activities.
The latest addition of having one’s US passport in the Google Wallet app itself becomes a game-changing factor for frequent travelers. Along with keeping state-issued IDs stored in six states, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, and New Mexico, respectively, passengers can store a digital version of their US passport to refer to at any time and almost anywhere. How does the new digital passport feature work?
The rollout of the new digital passport feature is gradual; as time goes on, more users will be eligible. Once the feature becomes available to them, Android users can easily add their passport to Google Wallet using the following process:
- Open the Google Wallet App: First and foremost, the user needs to have the Google Wallet app on their Android device and ensure it is updated to the latest version.
- Tap ‘Add to Wallet’: Within the app, tap the ‘Add to Wallet’ button to begin the process of adding a passport.
- Select the ID Option: Users will then need to select the ‘ID Verify’ option and choose the ‘ID pass/Passport (US)’ option.
- Verification Process: Then, the users will be asked to scan their passport using the camera of their phone and the NFC chip placed on the back cover of the passport.
- Identity Confirmation: For further security, the user will have to go through a face recognition process to ensure that the passport is being stored by the rightful holder.
Once added successfully to Google Wallet, users can access their passports anytime through the app for a seamless digital travel experience. The passport will then be available for use at participating TSA checkpoints.
Where Can You Use Your Digital Passport?
While the convenience of having a passport on your phone sounds appealing, this is currently only a feature that is available at select locations. Currently, it is possible to use a digital passport only at a few TSA checkpoints inside the United States. These various airports have integrated the technology needed to be able to scan digital ID passes, but a system has not been implemented nationwide just yet.
The following airports currently support the use of digital passports:
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)
Denver International Airport (DEN)
Des Moines International Airport (DSM)
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW)
Eastern Iowa Airport (CID)
Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport (GPT)
Harry Reid International Airport (LAS)
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
- Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport (JAN)
- John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
- John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH)
- LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
- Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU)
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY)
- Miami International Airport (MIA)
- Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
- Richmond International Airport (RIC)
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport DCA
Salt Lake City International Airport SLC
San Francisco International Airport SFO
San Jose Mineta International Airport SJC
Will Rogers World Airport OKC
This limited availability means that, for now, the digital passport is primarily beneficial for US domestic travelers flying through participating airports. Travelers who are planning international trips or who frequently fly through airports not on this list will still need to carry their physical passports with them. The digital passport is not currently usable for international travel, meaning your physical passport will still be required when traveling abroad.
Restrictions and Limitations
While the idea of having a passport stored digitally is exciting, there are some limitations to this new technology. First of all, the digital passport can only be used for verification at TSA checkpoints in the United States, and only in the above-mentioned airports.
Furthermore, Google’s digital passport cannot substitute your physical passport for international travel. Travelers who intend to travel outside the United States will, however, have to carry an actual passport with them for customs and border control. Moreover, the virtual passport cannot be used to present identification at places other than the relevant TSA checkpoints. For example, you won’t be able to use the digital passport to check into a hotel, prove your identity at the DMV, or buy alcohol at a bar.
That means Google Wallet’s digital passport is great for convenience in a narrow sense for a particular subset of travelers, but it is in no way a replacement for your physical passport or identification cards. As such, Google has also noted that the digital passport will serve its sole purpose: to verify a person at TSA checkpoints.
A Step Towards Travel of the Future?
While limited, the digital passport feature is a critical step toward a more digitized, convenient travel experience. As reliance on digital solutions in everyday living continues to expand, such ideas as storing key identification documents on our smartphones will eventually go beyond passports. Google Wallet’s foray into the digital identification world could mean that further features, such as driver’s license, visa, and even medical document storage, will soon emerge.
Travelers are already reaping the benefits of digital tickets, boarding passes, and even biometric screening at TSA checkpoints, allowing them to travel faster and smoother. Adding digital passports to this mix is simply the next reasonable step in that evolution, and Google’s push to make it happen may be a harbinger of a wider move away from paper-based travel documents entirely.
Security and Privacy Considerations
Equally concerning to digital identification is the safety and privacy of the data. Although Google Wallet’s virtual passport aims to provide security with biometric verification, facial recognition in this case, storing all of the highly sensitive personal information on one’s smartphone can still seem dubious to users.
Google has assured users that the passport information stored in Wallet is encrypted and that the process of accessing and using the digital passport is secure. However, as with any digital solution, there is always the potential for hacking or data breaches. Users must understand the risks associated with digital documents and take steps to secure their devices, such as enabling two-factor authentication and regularly updating security settings.
The highway into the Future
In its current infancy, digital passports have become an exciting, if tentative, harbinger of how things may proceed, at least where travel and electronic access are involved. As new forms of digital verification spread to most leading airports and many government centers in countries worldwide, we foresee an encroachment in various areas that has already involved digitized identification documentation well beyond one’s passport.
For now, travelers will have to pay extra attention to the limits of the digital passport and carry their physical passport along when traveling internationally. But even without complete parity with its physical counterpart, the digital passport in Google Wallet feels like a promising step into the future where our smartphones act truly as all-in-one solutions to manage our most key personal information.
Over the coming weeks, more users will get to try this, and with time, it is bound to reach more airports and other areas. As this digital evolution unfolds, so, too, will the traveling experience: streamlined and tech-forward, perhaps one day well beyond the reaches of the airport.
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