Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
That's not what this feature is intended for, and they're very clear about that.

"However, Apple says it is not a replacement for a physical passport, and it cannot be used for international travel and border crossing purposes."
So basically it's the equal of the RealID.. except possibly allows Mexico and Canada?

In LA, they don't even accept my digital license
 
And the number of times I've had a TSA or gate agent go "Look at you, Mr. Fancy!" when I show a boarding pass on my watch doesn't inspire confidence that things will change quickly. Nonetheless, progress is progress however slow.
It's dumb and pointless to use a watch for this. I tried this with Android Wear even before Apple Watch was launched. Yeah, it's cool the first time, but then you have to contort your wrist just to put it face down... and what about those C-clamp style readers where your wrist won't fit?

It's just dumb. I always felt people who insisted on doing stuff on their watch was just showing off because there's no way it's more effective or easier than pulling it up on your phone. In a very limited case with payments I've seen the watch be more effective like you're holding a bunch of stuff (e.g. forgot your reusable shopping bags and dont' want to pay extra for a bag fee), and then just move your hand against the NFC reader. But for anything that needs QR code scanning where actual alignment matters, a watch often doesn't work well at all.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AstonSmith
My state allows digital IDs on phones. I have one, but I will never ever use it in front of law enforcement officers. It's a bad idea to hand over your iphone to any leo. For example, during a traffic stop, you hand over your iphone to a leo. He may access not only your ID but also your photos, emails, and instagram. Since you've voluntarily handed over and unlocked your phone, it may be legal for them view its contents. This applies to digital passports.

I will keep a digital passport in my phone just in case, but I will never use it.
You do NOT hand over your phone. They are suppose to have a device where you simply tap (like using a credit card in Apple Wallet).

Why do people keep thinking you have to hand over the phone???
 
My state allows digital IDs on phones. I have one, but I will never ever use it in front of law enforcement officers. It's a bad idea to hand over your iphone to any leo. For example, during a traffic stop, you hand over your iphone to a leo. He may access not only your ID but also your photos, emails, and instagram. Since you've voluntarily handed over and unlocked your phone, it may be legal for them view its contents. This applies to digital passports.

I will keep a digital passport in my phone just in case, but I will never use it.
The solution to that issue? Don't hand over your phone. You are not required to and in fact, should not be doing so. That's not how the digital IDs work. Your digital ID is scanned by the law enforcement officer using a reader. Or maybe the officer will just look at it on the lock screen. If one asks to take your phone and there really are no other options then lock your phone first. The ID will show up without you needing to unlock your phone. Police officers do not have a right to snoop through your phone. In fact, courts have consistently held that police generally need a warrant (or an applicable exception) to access the private contents of a phone (photos, emails, social media, etc.), even if the phone is unlocked. Handing your phone over to display an ID is not the same as consenting to a search of everything inside it. If one searched through your phone for a simple traffic stop, that's an easy legal win for you.
 
I think this has less to do with convenience during travel than to track and control people. If you have a verified gov ID for all your online activity, then how easy would it be to attach a gov social credit score to your online activity?

Just a question.
You do NOT hand over your phone. They are suppose to have a device where you simply tap (like using a credit card in Apple Wallet).

Why do people keep thinking you have to hand over the phone???

no personal experience with this, but I've heard that if you don't voluntarily "Tap" your phone they will take it to a back room where they clone the whole phone to a USB drive, and brute force the USB drive on some specialized black box that will tell them everything they want to know, AND it will install spyware on your phone, so they can continue to monitor you in the future.

If you just "tap" your phone voluntarily, then it will still install the same spyware on your phone to monitor you in the future.

One is "more convenient," but both options are very bad as legal citizens.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Disagree
Reactions: Robert.Walter
I think this has less to do with convenience during travel than to track and control people. If you have a verified gov ID for all your online activity, then how easy would it be to attach a gov social credit score to your online activity?

Just a question.


no personal experience with this, but I've heard that if you don't voluntarily "Tap" your phone they will take it to a back room where they clone the whole phone to a USB drive, and brute force the USB drive on some specialized black box that will tell them everything they want to know, AND it will install spyware on your phone, so they can continue to monitor you in the future.

If you just "tap" your phone voluntarily, then it will still install the same spyware on your phone to monitor you in the future.

One is "more convenient," but both options are very bad as legal citizens.
They can clone your phone but iPhone's have some pretty strong military-grade encryption on them. As for installing spyware on your phone, if a law enforcement officer takes your phone to some back room and then hands it back to you, I would hope the first thing you do when you get home is do a complete wipe and reinstall of the original software. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Robert.Walter
And the number of times I've had a TSA or gate agent go "Look at you, Mr. Fancy!" when I show a boarding pass on my watch doesn't inspire confidence that things will change quickly. Nonetheless, progress is progress however slow.
LoL TSA agent jobs were advertised on pizza boxes, so you have to understand that. TSA agents aren’t there to make policy they are there to misinterpret and to brutally enforce it.
 
The convenience is nice.

But in the current climate you would be a fool to hand, show or even unlock your device anywhere near a US law enforcement officer.

Paper boarding passes and passports all the way.
The whole point is that it is very possible for you to lose your physical passport but not lose your iPhone. In that specific case having this will absolutely make getting a replacement for your physical passport much easier.
 
So much misinformation here. Starting with the headline. Apple *did not* delay anything. TSA has always announced that this was a *fall* feature, and fall doesn't start for a week. Could come anytime between now and Christmas - most likely, it'll be a 26.1 feature, since the long pole is TSA's equipment and systems upgrades, not anything to do with Apple.
 
So much misinformation here. Starting with the headline. Apple *did not* delay anything. TSA has always announced that this was a *fall* feature, and fall doesn't start for a week. Could come anytime between now and Christmas - most likely, it'll be a 26.1 feature, since the long pole is TSA's equipment and systems upgrades, not anything to do with Apple.
The feature has been live for a while in Android. So no, it is on Apple.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-...ort-on-your-android-phone-but-theres-a-catch/
You do NOT hand over your phone. They are suppose to have a device where you simply tap (like using a credit card in Apple Wallet).

Why do people keep thinking you have to hand over the phone???
I always felt this was overblown. Not only do you not hand over your phone, but there are so many other instances today including millions of flyers regularly placing their boarding pass on a QR reader. Even today, could a TSA officer snatch your phone? Yeah, and you unlock it to show your QR code most of the time because 98% of people don't know how to use Apple/Google wallet and instead rely on screenshots of the app or open the airline app. So if people are FINE with that process today, why is there a sudden concern your phone security is at stake when it comes to an ID which is transferred via NFC/Bluetooth?
 
My state allows digital IDs on phones. I have one, but I will never ever use it in front of law enforcement officers. It's a bad idea to hand over your iphone to any leo. For example, during a traffic stop, you hand over your iphone to a leo. He may access not only your ID but also your photos, emails, and instagram. Since you've voluntarily handed over and unlocked your phone, it may be legal for them view its contents. This applies to digital passports.

I will keep a digital passport in my phone just in case, but I will never use it.
Please educate yourself on how the digital ID is presented before you make such comments. Or you could watch this educational video at this page: https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/ca-dmv-wallet/mdl-reader/

If you pay attention, you will see that the phone doesn't leave your hands and the person either verifies via NFC contactless or QR code scan. And before you say the QR code can be copied - no it cannot because not only is it dynamic and enrcrypted it requires the ID holder to confirm and authorize the data transmission and you'll see what is being requested (i.e. age). You also cannot take a screenshot of the info.
 
The feature has been live for a while in Android. So no, it is on Apple.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-...ort-on-your-android-phone-but-theres-a-catch/

I always felt this was overblown. Not only do you not hand over your phone, but there are so many other instances today including millions of flyers regularly placing their boarding pass on a QR reader. Even today, could a TSA officer snatch your phone? Yeah, and you unlock it to show your QR code most of the time because 98% of people don't know how to use Apple/Google wallet and instead rely on screenshots of the app or open the airline app. So if people are FINE with that process today, why is there a sudden concern your phone security is at stake when it comes to an ID which is transferred via NFC/Bluetooth?
Because people are just uneducated about the future and think you have to hand over the phone to a LEO who will start snooping.
 
Because people are just uneducated about the future and think you have to hand over the phone to a LEO who will start snooping.
I wouldn't ever hand my phone to an LEO unless legally required to, but I think people do it more often than many think here.... not to show them their ID but to explain "Look I wasn't texting." An officer grabbing your phone, then searching through it is only asking for bad publicity.

If I were an LEO, no hell no am I touching your phone, or at most if you want me to look at something like you forgot your ID but have a photo of it I'll have you hold it up to me and that's it just so I can write down the DL # and look it up on my computer.

I also think that people just love repeating stuff over and over again, so the more people say "No way am I handing my phone over to a cop to give them my ID" the more other people will say it even if it's not true you need to do it, and even if you did, the odds of an officer just searching through your phone are likely pretty low. It's just the way the internet works these days. People just love repeating cliched phrases for easy upvotes/agreement from others.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.