Digital passports among IDs to be available in UK government app
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The app announced by Peter Kyle, the secretary of state for technology, will launch in June with driving licences and veteran cards the first available IDs. UK citizens could soon be able to carry their passports in a digital wallet on their phones along with their driving licence, universal credit account and marriage and birth certificates.
![[A pink digital ID displayed in a smartphone app]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/bb884aae39eafeeca1ee780e0fbb10200afb9567/0_98_498_299/master/498.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The plan was announced by Peter Kyle, the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, as part of a new smartphone app to simplify interactions with government services. He said it meant “the overflowing drawer rammed with letters from the government and hours spent on hold to get a basic appointment will soon be consigned to history”.
The first government-issued credentials that people will be able to carry in the new digital wallet, to launch in June, will be a driving licence and a veteran card. The government’s digital service plans to then roll out access to accounts relating to student loans, vehicle tax, benefits, childcare and local councils.
Kyle said his department is working with the Home Office on allowing digital versions of passports. These would continue to exist alongside physical copies and the ability to use them to pass through foreign borders will be limited by other country’s border systems, officials said.
