Google is testing a new feature to better enhance the security and protection of its Android users making use of Chrome.
The company called the latest security rollout ‘digital credential API’ that enables websites to properly request identity-related data that can be found inside users’ mobile wallets. This includes their passports and driver’s licenses.
As per Google, the feature would give rise to a more safe store where identity documents can be found. Hence, users would store the data in a safe place without worrying about it being lost or stolen by other threat actors.
The feature would be the company’s latest AI that’s integrated into Chrome. It would make use of Android’s Identity Credential System that shows support for different kinds of credentials and information.
Search engine giant Google mentioned how combining Digital Credentials would give websites the chance to ask for identity data from Android’s CredMan system so that any webpage would safely verify identity without the need to upload data through manual means.
Any document recognized by the government plays a huge role in society. This is why Google wants to make sure such documents that are mostly paper-based get digital variants and therefore can be attained and stored easily online.
The latest feature enables websites to ask for identity-based data through direct means on the mobile wallet and it would use the most secure system out there dubbed IdentityCredential.
When any online page needs the user’s ID verification through a document, a request would be sent via Chrome and the user would see that and decide if they wish to have it approved or not.
When and if that gets approved, the Android system will send out the necessary data through the wallet to any site that requests it, making sure only what is shared is needed. In this manner, the data is protected and you control the data getting shared online.
Google says the goal right now is to attain great support for several formats and enable the use of various types of wallet apps. For now, the feature’s release date is yet to be revealed but we’ll keep you updated whenever that happens.
Chrome’s feature for storing digital identity has critics worried that handing over sensitive personal info to a tech giant and potentially government entities is a huge privacy risk. Storing identity documents like passports and driver’s licenses in digital wallets controlled by them feels invasive and could lead to unprecedented surveillance and data vulnerability. Skeptics say the more data collected and shared means more opportunities for misuse or exploitation and less user autonomy and privacy online.
Image: DIW-aigen
