// 9TO5GOOGLE — MOBILE & WEB
Where Google Wallet state IDs are available on Android
States across the US are slowly rolling out support for adding your driver’s license or ID to the Google Wallet app on Android.
The process involves taking a picture of the front and back of your physical card, as well as a short video of yourself for verification: a “photo from this video will be submitted to your ID issuer.”
Once approved, the ID will appear below the carousel of payment methods alongside other passes. The order can be rearranged, while you can remotely remove the ID online if your phone is missing: myaccount.google.com > Personal Info > Manage IDs.
Google previously said to expect support in the following places:
The primary place you can use this digital ID is at TSA checkpoints in some US airports. There are two ways to do so, starting with tapping your phone at the NFC terminal. You then review the information that will be shared with the TSA and authenticate with device unlock. There’s also a QR code method that requires opening the ID in Google Wallet.
Officially, you still have to carry the physical ID card at all times.
Some apps, like from car rental services, are beginning to accept digital IDs for identity and age verification. On mobile, if an app or website requests your age, it’s as simple as confirming (and authenticating) that you want to share this information with a system-level prompt/sheet. On desktop web, the experience involves scanning a QR code.
Google wants to make it possible to do that “without any possibility to link back to a user’s personal identity” through what it calls Zero-Knowledge Proof. This technology will be open-sourced for anyone to use.
Looking ahead, the IDs can be used at DMVs in Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, and New Mexico as part of “improved and streamlined customer experiences.”
I'm in Ohio and sometimes I get annoyed that it still hasn't been added yet when it was announced over a year ago. But then I remember it's still useless. We still need our physical ID for almost everything including alcohol purchases.