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The Digital Passport — Concept

Digital Passport

THE ELEGANT ALL-IN-ONE IDENTITY SOLUTION FOR EVERY CITIZEN

One Digital Card Replacement for Passport Booklet, National ID, Driver’s License, Voter ID card, Government National ID, Car Registrations, Bank Debit/Credit Card, and every other Personal ID.

Have you ever considered the Passport Booklet to be big, thick, and fairly futile? I question if it is the smartest way to make the most important and accepted identification document on the planet.

CATCHING UP WITH WORLD

Countries across the globe have implemented and have been successfully using National ID numbers/cards for decades now. USA, UAE, South Korea, Countries of EU, UK, and many more have some version of National ID number in place to link all local activities too.

India has entered the race with Aadhaar but there is a lot catching up to do. Currently, Aadhaar only serves as an ID number but there is minimum linking to other government services.

With a digital passport, there can be changes in airport immigration. With a Non-biometric passport, an individual is required to get an immigration stamp from an authority to successfully travel between countries.

Using a Biometric or E-Passport, an individual can quickly pass through an E-Gate or Smart Gate at Immigration without any human interference. This kind of immigration is successfully offered by Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates.

This kind of immigration solves quite a problem. It avoids long queueing or the need for multiple immigration officers. The process is simple and doesn’t end with passport pages full of ugly stamps.

BUT… the addition of biometric chips still does not make much difference to the User Experience when it comes to the whole size and usability of the Passport Booklet.

Digital Passport

THE SOLUTION — DIGITAL PASSPORT CARD

An International ID Document contains all information and benefits of a traditional Passport Booklet and National ID, but is compact and fits in your pocket like any other bank card or driving license.

I tried to design the very passport, after wondering just too much. What if, our Passport was a card and not a booklet, which would sit easily inside our wallet and we are not worried if the pages will eventually run out. If you are worried about Visa and immigration stamping, just read along.

While designing, I researched many passports, the requirements, the guidelines, the design, and the technology. Mostly impressed with what I witnessed, I went on creating designs that could serve as base models for all countries.

Passport Card contains all vital information spread across the front and backside in multiple languages (if required).

Front Side:

Passport Number, Nation’s Emblem, Country Code, Document Type, National ID (Aadhaar Number for India), Full Name, Date of Birth, Sex, Nationality, Place of Birth, Color Photo, and Digital Signature.

More Dates can be added as per the country’s requirement; for e.g. France requires an individual’s height and color of eyes to be on a passport.

Back Side:

Permanent Address, Issuing Authority, Date of Issuing, Date of Expiry, Document Number, Place of Issuing; EMV Chip, Flag of Nation, Contactless Payment Symbol, and Machine Readable Zone (MRZ).

Both sides:

Name of Country, biometric logo, Nation’s Emblem (watermark with voluntary Design), and Document Name (like “Passport” or “Diplomatic Passport” or “Laissez-Passer”, etc.)
Inside: RFID/Biometric Chip containing required info, color photo, and set of fingerprints.

Let’s discuss the benefits of a Passport Card one by one.

Digital Passport

TECHNOLOGY

EMV Chip:

EMV cards are smart cards that store their data on integrated circuits. This integration can be useful to replace banks cards. This also allows special card readers to read card biometrics and other data (normally used by the government or govt.-affiliated companies).

Contactless Smart Card:

To store Biometrics. Also can be used for contactless payments or terminal tagging (like a keyless entry in office buildings or metro-rail stations).

Machine Readable Zone (MRZ):

The area covers the bottom one-third of the card’s back. This zone contains text formatted in a certain way that a machine/scanner can read the most important data quickly. Normally, Passport booklets have 2 rows of data but on Cards, the data is divided into 3 rows.

Online Visa & Immigration:

This is a no-brainer. We carry big booklets for passports so that they can be stamped on. There are 2 kinds of stamps — Visa & Immigration.

Immigration:

As I have covered before with Smart Gates, Immigration stamps are not necessary anymore. The USA doesn’t even stamp passports on exit.

VISA:

We as a community do not require a paper sticker on passports to remind us of valid visas. I agree they might look appealing as a collection but they do not serve any function which cannot be served by an E-Visa.

Many countries with higher passport rank enjoy Visa-free travel across other countries and for them, a passport booklet is no better than an ID card.

WEB PORTAL & MOBILE APP

Every Passport / I-ID holder will be able to use the Web Portal or a Mobile App to track all their activities.

The web Portal or app will allow Users to:

  • View Passport Details and apply for renewal and updating.
  • Visa Details: Valid and other Visas from different Authorities.
  • Immigration Details: All In-Out details from each visit.
  • Linked Documents: Local ID, Driving license, bank cards, and more which also can be managed from here from multiple Issuing Authorities/Countries.
Digital Passport

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