Already an integral part of everyday life in almost all smartphones , the Wallet function from Google and Apple has become increasingly popular. For example, it allows you to pay digitally at the checkout without a card, or to eliminate the need to carry paper tickets, pickup slips, and other items.

Google now wants to add another feature to its own wallet, which will not only ensure that we can move around the internet even faster with some services, but will also play a major role in data protection.

Age checks for web service providers and shops

Especially on websites with age restrictions or online shops that require pre-checking of age, users still have to go through this rather inconvenient process of verifying their identity. Often, services like Web-ID or service providers are hired to use cameras to check ID for the required minimum age.

However, this very procedure also has a small downside: if the operator who wants to check the minimum age actually only wants to confirm the age, additional data is also released that theoretically has nothing to do with the actual query. This means that in addition to the age, data such as an ID photo, personal information, origin and residence, and even serial numbers, etc., can be quickly stored, even though this isn’t necessary for an age check.

Google relies entirely on data protection

Google wants to give its Android users a better feeling, as the company is currently testing a digital ID wallet in the US with a high degree of privacy protection. Users can simply store their ID documents in the wallet, and Google takes on the role of verifying the data .

More precisely, Google becomes an ID checker and only wants to release the data that is necessary for the respective user or service. So, one can imagine that for a service that requires a user to be of legal age, for example, Google would simply pass on a yes or no feedback to the service via the Wallet.

Google simply calls this scenario ” zero-knowledge proof .” It means that the respective service provider or shop should only receive the data necessary to use the service—in this case, no personal data at all. Instead, they receive only feedback from Google, for example, whether the user is old enough or not.

When does it start in Germany?

Currently, the ID wallet is only active in the US, and only in a few states. The reason for this is clearly the current data protection laws, as Google itself has a hurdle to overcome here.

Great Britain will also be launching this service soon , so this feature will probably gradually make its way to Europe as well.

Allow Google to save documents – is this already a data protection problem?

Google is the largest company in the world that thrives on data. Now everyone can decide for themselves whether they want to feed this “data octopus” even more sensitive data, such as their ID card or passport, to be stored on Google’s servers.

Nobody knows whether this data is then evaluated or processed by Google for its own purposes. What is certain, however, is that the data is actually very secure, especially with Google. Google has numerous security mechanisms in place to prevent the data from being accessed by third parties.

What do you think of this feature? A blessing or a curse?