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Google Is Bringing Electronic IDs to Android

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Re: Google Is Bringing Electronic IDs to Android

#31
post #24
post #12

I wonder about the due process implications for this at, say, a traffic stop. If you hand a police officer your phone to show them your driver's license, is that implicit consent to search your phone? Will the ID-showing mode be special in that it will allow the holder to see the ID, but the rest of the phone will remain locked? I like that they're looking for ways to make it so you still have access to ID documents…

You can already make an App impossible to leave without re-entering a PIN. This feature is available on both Android and iOS.

All you need to get data off these phones is to plug it into one of these [1]

[1] https://www.cellebrite.com/en/home/

Re: Google Is Bringing Electronic IDs to Android

#32

Completely off-topic: If you scroll down past the linked article and onto the next article, the URL automatically changes (from /google-is-bringing-electronic-ids-to-android to /cisco-open-sources-mindmeld-conversational-ai-platform ). I've never seen this type of behavior from a web page before.

There's a very nice article about how single-page web applications work that explain the mechanics of using the location API.

https://blog.pshrmn.com/entry/how-single-page-applications-w...

Re: Google Is Bringing Electronic IDs to Android

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a ton of individuals and big companies in tech working through standardization bodies to create an identity layer for the internet, that no single organization is in control over. Google is not among them. A link to the ISO Standard Google is waiting for approval on: https://www.iso.org/standard/69084.html Examples of organizations working to solve identity problems, rather than compound them: https://www.w…

There's no way to do one-to-one identity verification and authentication without centralized coordination and control. Just as an example, even if we really wanted to there'd be now way to let only one CA issue a certificate for a domain if any of the CAs is rogue.

There is no easy way.

What is an important distinction, since there exist situations when even hard to follow procedures are better than a centralized option. Those are just not your daily "how do I know if I can show you my credit card" situations.

Re: Google Is Bringing Electronic IDs to Android

#34
Cool. How long until they shut it down with one-month notice? If it was Apple I'd feel reasonably confident that it would be around for at least a couple of years, but even in the ID/payment space alone Google has kept rotating through different "wallet" solutions multiple times.

Re: Google Is Bringing Electronic IDs to Android

#35
This is a terrible idea. The last thing I want is for an advertising company that makes its living off personal data that they gather about me to be able to reliably link that data to my real identity.

I think that in general embedding legally-empowered digital IDs (in the form of certificates, not pictures of physical ID cards, mind you) in mobile phones is a good idea, but it ceases to be a good idea when your phone and your OS are made by an advertising company with clear incentives to gather data about you, and a solid history of doing so.

Re: Google Is Bringing Electronic IDs to Android

#36

It's weird to see all these crutches and half-assed fixes instead of lobbying and other work done to fix the ID situation in the US. It's really unfathomable to me how big of a problem identity theft and unauthorized access to digital systems for a regular citizen is. Especially compared to what for example Estonia has built, where I really do not have to worry about that issue - I have to have my ID card (or my mobi…

Its easier to gripe about "evil $otherparty" and vent righteous anger at the corporate written and backed ideas that get submitted, than it would be to draft legislation implementing a sensible and sound open public ID system and get some Congresscritter to actually get it to the floor. There might have been some efforts that I'm unaware of but that I haven't heard of them suggests they didn't get far. It doesn't hel…

Trying to claim bothsides here is casually glossing over the very real history of the Republican party hijacking ID laws to suppress the rights of the poor and minorities.

Re: Google Is Bringing Electronic IDs to Android

#37

It's weird to see all these crutches and half-assed fixes instead of lobbying and other work done to fix the ID situation in the US. It's really unfathomable to me how big of a problem identity theft and unauthorized access to digital systems for a regular citizen is. Especially compared to what for example Estonia has built, where I really do not have to worry about that issue - I have to have my ID card (or my mobi…

Your talking about "identity theft" as if it's an unquestionable concept demonstrates precisely why there is opposition to strengthening the technicals of identification. Every bit that makes identification stronger is yet another excuse for businesses to assert that it is infallible. Even currently, rather than banks simply admitting they were defrauded and thanking/compensating the innocent bystanders for helping them set things right, they keep pushing this "identity theft" narrative to make it seem like the unlucky victims of bank's incompetence have some sort of intrinsic involvement!

It's understandable how it got this way, as from inside the system's paradigm it does look like an "identity was stolen". But the map is not the territory - despite businesses wishing that it were because they can only operate in terms of the map. We are not subjects of the government nor of corporations - free people must resist being cataloged and controlled by database rows that seek to override our actual existence.

Furthermore in regards to the US, it's basically a foregone conclusion that any government-mandated ID system will not include effective restrictions that keep corporations from hooking on to build invasive tracking. Let's hold them to reigning in the ongoing widespread abuse of license plates, driver's license numbers, etc before we go advocating for even more identifying requirements on individuals in this age of surveillance.

Re: Google Is Bringing Electronic IDs to Android

#38

This sounds great at first. But I am really concerned about its impact on subscription services and blocking. If economics of it plays right, the apps would now have access to a confirmed unique ID for a device that would allow them to lock support of the service to not only just the number of devices(which is fine) but also the device itself. I am aware that apps can currently use multiple sources to get unique IDs…

> the apps would now have access to a confirmed unique ID for a device that would allow them to lock support of the service to not only just the number of devices(which is fine) but also the device itself. I'm not sure I understand the concern. Could you give an example?

[deleted]

Re: Google Is Bringing Electronic IDs to Android

#39
post #35

This is a terrible idea. The last thing I want is for an advertising company that makes its living off personal data that they gather about me to be able to reliably link that data to my real identity. I think that in general embedding legally-empowered digital IDs (in the form of certificates, not pictures of physical ID cards, mind you) in mobile phones is a good idea, but it ceases to be a good idea when your phon…

They already have a payments platform and app store that requires a linking, which is more than adequate for highly targeted advertising.

I really think that civic engagement and petitioning law makers to protect our privacy is the main tool we have to get out of these impending messes.

Re: Google Is Bringing Electronic IDs to Android

#40
post #35

This is a terrible idea. The last thing I want is for an advertising company that makes its living off personal data that they gather about me to be able to reliably link that data to my real identity. I think that in general embedding legally-empowered digital IDs (in the form of certificates, not pictures of physical ID cards, mind you) in mobile phones is a good idea, but it ceases to be a good idea when your phon…

I would say, let Google develops the tech and figures out where are the blocking points, and then it could eventually become a standard and be implemented by other actors.

About making the technology reliable and secure, I do trust Google more than my bank.

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