It was learned that Apple filed a patent application with the US Patent and Trademark Office in March last year, which included the iPhone as the user's 'identity card'. The patent is called 'Document Importation into Secure Element' and is filed by the US Patent and Trademark Office. USPTO) was announced on Wednesday.
The patent details how to use the iPhone's short-range radio function (NFC or RFID) to store human credentials embedded in an integrated circuit. In this way, the device can obtain credential information from an authoritative identity authority, such as a driver's license, etc. In this way, the device can store personal name, date of birth and other information to verify the user's true identity.
When the user encounters the situation of the identity information request, he can authenticate by password, fingerprint or Face ID to send personal data to the authority to check the related information.
The patent document also describes some possible usage scenarios. Just like the BlackBerry Passport phone we mentioned earlier, users can also use this feature to make the iPhone act as their own 'passport' without having to carry their passport with them. But the problem is that many National laws still stipulate that tourists need to carry their passports when traveling between different countries. Therefore, before this function is officially formed, Apple may have to negotiate with the governments of many countries.