Now Apple Wants Your Passport

Your smartphone already tracks your movements, arranges your social life and monitors your spending. What could possibly be next?

According to International Business Times, in what may prove to be landmark—if not slightly dystopian—development, The United States Patent and Trademark Office has revealed plans by Apple to hold 'credential information being usable to establish the identity of the user' in its iPhones. In other words: your phone could soon store your passport.

This information was further discussed on an AppleInsider podcast. The editors, Victor Marks and Mike Wuerthele, stress this idea is still in development. Currently, just the data path and process have been disclosed. Using an electronically stored passport is still a long way off, as major changes would have to be made to border control and iPhones would have to be compatible with customs and immigration procedures, which would potentially mean airports installing new and expensive tech.

Still, the iPhone can already hold all other travel documents, including plane tickets, so storing a passport seems the next logical step. But as ever with Apple, the question is whether convenience is worth handing over even more of our identities: even if it means shorter queues at the airport.

This story originally appeared on Esquire.co.uk.

* Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.