The First U.S Digital ID App

Digital ID is here in the form of Apple Digital ID; well that was quick.

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This is a new type of ID that can be created inside the Apple wallet app.

Apple’s blog post presents this as a way people can digitize their passport and remain compliant with REAL ID, and major news outlets are parroting this without any mention that you can just as easily use your normal passport.

This new Digital ID feature is in beta and can be accepted at 250 aiports.

Apple users can add their Digital ID by going through a verification process.

I love this euphemism, that they call handing over your biometric identity a “verification process”.

After the verification process they then scan the photo page of their passport and it reads the NFC chip inside the passport. I’ve scanned the NFC chip in mine, there’s nothing special in there besides your basic information - its just security measure to ensure its legitimate passport.

Apple gives some more details, that the verification reuqires a selfie - and facial and head movements.

This is just the beginning, Apple plans to let people use this ID for age verification in person. I bet they will use the list of businesses accepting mobile driving licenses that I’ve covered in my report, like Colorado and Iowa that have published a list of businesses.

In order to use the digital ID in places, you’ll have to go ahead and scan your face or fingerprint again.

What we’re watching is the quiet normalization of biometric checkpoints—first at airports, then at stores, venues, and eventually anywhere an ID is required. Apple frames this as “convenience,” but the trade-off is obvious: every interaction becomes a moment of authentication, and every authentication becomes a data point tied to your identity.

None of this is happening by accident. Airports are the gateway. Retail is next. And once businesses and agencies adopt these systems, opting out becomes harder each year.

You can still use a physical passport or driver’s license. You can still choose technology that doesn’t require your face to unlock basic services. But this window won’t stay open forever.

Pay attention now, because this is how Digital ID slips into everyday life—not with a mandate, but with a feature update.

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