ID and driver’s license on a smartphone

The digitization of documents in the European Union is gaining momentum. The project has already begun to take on real contours, which should ultimately take care of the digitization of licenses such as citizenship or driver’s licenses, as well as other official documents. The Engadget portal addressed the topic.

If everything goes smoothly, as early as 2022, we could make full use of the digital form of the documents that we currently have to carry with us in the form of a physical card. The launch of the European Digital Wallet project will lay the foundations for a comprehensive online identity.

All documents in one place

Simply put, a digital wallet will provide secure access in one place to all the key documents that a citizen may need when communicating with authorities, banks, as well as all parts of everyday life. With the help of a specialized application, it will be possible, for example, to access all government institutions in an authorized manner within the online identity or even to make various payments.

As the planned application will bring together data of a truly sensitive nature, great attention must be paid to the issue of security. Currently, therefore, login with a protected fingerprint or facial biometrics is planned, among other things.

EU Member States are currently working to develop common rules and technical standards so that the digital version of documents is secure and accepted wherever necessary. This is a joint project of the European Union, so the digital version of your documents will be valid at home and abroad – in all EU Member States.

Fully optional service

The digital wallet for storing official documents will operate on a voluntary basis. It will not be anything mandatory. Users who will use it will just gain much more flexibility, as they will always have access to all their documents and IDs via their smartphone.

The ultimate benefit is the simplification of bureaucratic processes. The example given is car rental. The standard situation is that one has to come in person, wait in line, write out the appropriate forms and prove oneself with a physical version of an identity card. With the advent of the digital wallet, it will be possible to perform this whole process fully electronically without waiting. For example, setting up a bank account will be similarly easy.

No more carrying documents?

The whole project should be imagined as a digital wallet in which you have all the necessary documents in all circumstances. In fact, simply put, it is something similar to taking a photo card on a mobile phone, just with the whole thing being more elaborate and fully accepted by companies and government institutions. The pilot operation should start in September 2022, in all 27 member states of the European Union.