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So what about people with no smartphone? They won't be allowed to stay in the UK? ;)
From the article: > The Home Office has also [planned] to set up computer terminals at 56 local libraries around the UK to help those without smartphones, or without the necessary digital skills, to apply to stay in the UK.
Any idea why Apple doesn't allow use of NFC? It's been in devices for ages, I'm surprise to hear it's not available to developers. Given Apple reviews all apps anyway, and can restrict what it's used for any way they like, I can't imagine why they wouldn't allow apps to use it.
I'm actually very suprised by this article because in iOS 11, over a year old now, they did open up NFC to developers: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/corenfc . The problem could be that they require a different data format then the NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF) as that is the only format that CoreNFC supports.
iOS definitely supports NFC for third party apps. Here’s the documentation: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/corenfc I just played with the Yubico iOS SDK just the other day and it supports my Yubikey 5 flawlessly.
Any idea why Apple doesn't allow use of NFC? It's been in devices for ages, I'm surprise to hear it's not available to developers. Given Apple reviews all apps anyway, and can restrict what it's used for any way they like, I can't imagine why they wouldn't allow apps to use it.
iOS apps can access NFC capablities on devices with that have appropriate hardware support, but from what I understand the CoreNFC API has some limitations.
For example, it doesn't provide a way to read an RFID'c unique ID without using a private API that would disqualify an app from being published on the app store. There's some information about this at [1] and [2]. CoreAPI can read NDEF tags, but they don't expose the UID.
Perhaps the Home Office's app needs the UID of the passport's embedded RFID? I don't know why they might want this, or why Apple restricts the ability to read it. Privacy concerns?
[1] https://www.taptrack.com/article/blog/core-nfc-2/
[2] https://stackoverflow.com/questions/51822226/corenfc-not-rea...
So this is a smartphone app because they want to use the NFC in the smartphone to scan the passport. Does anyone know how the NFC in a passport works? If it just communicates the passport number, then it seems like they could allow a fallback where the user types in the passport number, without any loss of security. (Because if that is how it works, all you're really proving is knowledge of the passport number, not p…
So this is a smartphone app because they want to use the NFC in the smartphone to scan the passport. Does anyone know how the NFC in a passport works? If it just communicates the passport number, then it seems like they could allow a fallback where the user types in the passport number, without any loss of security. (Because if that is how it works, all you're really proving is knowledge of the passport number, not p…
> The Home Office has also signed a £91m contract with French company Sopra Steria to set up computer terminals at 56 local libraries Just £1.625 million per library? Does that seem a crazy amount to anyone else?
Also, local to who ? There aren't 56 points in the UK such that everyone has a local point for any reasonable definition of "local".
Its astounding you didn't infer that.
Any idea why Apple doesn't allow use of NFC? It's been in devices for ages, I'm surprise to hear it's not available to developers. Given Apple reviews all apps anyway, and can restrict what it's used for any way they like, I can't imagine why they wouldn't allow apps to use it.
> Any idea why Apple doesn't allow use of NFC? iOS apps can access NFC capablities on devices with that have appropriate hardware support, but from what I understand the CoreNFC API has some limitations. For example, it doesn't provide a way to read an RFID'c unique ID without using a private API that would disqualify an app from being published on the app store. There's some information about this at [1] and [2]. Co…
You need to do a proper cryptographic handshake with the passport, something impossible with the current SDK. You need to be able to send raw “APDUs” (commands) to the smart card/passport.
"The most difficult part of the process - confirmation of ID - was not being done through an automated process: applicants didn't have to use the controversial app to scan their passports. Of those who voluntarily decided to use it 30% FAILED."
And as various people have pointed out, unless a deal appears in a really short timeframe, all 3m EU nationals living in the UK will have to go through this process in order to continue working or renting in the UK. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46035919
> The Home Office has also signed a £91m contract with French company Sopra Steria to set up computer terminals at 56 local libraries Just £1.625 million per library? Does that seem a crazy amount to anyone else?