Google is bringing Digital IDs to the UK 'soon' to bolster age checks on Android phones

Use Android? You'll soon be able to add an all-digital version of your ID to your Google Wallet.

The feature is coming to the UK and select European Union countries in the coming months, part of a global push towards digital IDs from the biggest technology firms. Google has confirmed the update will introduce a new way to verify your age with your smartphone — something that's sure to please Facebook parent company, Meta.

Google Wallet is already capable of storing digital versions of your credit and debit cards, UK Railcard, cinema and concert tickets, supermarket and coffee shop loyalty cards, and Covid-19 vaccination record, to name just a few.

Starting this summer, Android users in Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, and Estonia can record a short video clip from the front-facing camera on their device, scan a government-issued ID, and let Google Wallet cross-reference the two to add a digital version of the ID to the app. Unlike in the United States, this cannot be used to board flights or travel across the European Union, but these digital IDs can be used for online age verification.

Google has already confirmed the same functionality will be making its way to the UK "soon".

At launch, the US company has partnered with the Rail Delivery Group, so Google Wallet users will be able to use the digital version of their UK passport to prove their age and eligibility for a select Railcard. It's unclear whether you'll be able to use this Google Wallet version of your UK passport to board a domestic flight.

However, Google has confirmed that it's "exploring certification within the digital identity trust framework of the UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which could allow residents to use their Google Wallet ID passes for alcohol purchases and more."

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Google started to work on advanced age verification capabilities last year, driven by legal requirements set out in the UK's Online Safety Act.

It requires websites and apps to verify that visitors are aged over 18 to unlock certain content, including material that encourages self-harm, eating disorders, bullying, or dangerous stunts. In the UK, online pornography is also blocked behind strict age checks, including a facial scan or credit card check.

Google and Apple have both built new ways to verify device owners' age based on saved credit card data or digital IDs. iPhone and iPad owners in Britain must now confirm they are over 18.

With the introduction of iOS 26.4, Apple required device owners in the UK to perform a quick age check. Failure to do so would block them from accessing adult websites, some high-risk social media content, and impose stricter “communication safety” checks in Messages and FaceTime designed to detect nudity in images and videos.

Following the UK Government's legislative action, similar regulatory frameworks for age verification emerged across the United States and in other jurisdictions internationally.

If you don't want to store digital versions of your ID with software built by Apple or Google, the UK Government is building its own alternative, dubbed GOV.UK Wallet.

It's still being developed inside Whitehall, but the Labour Government has promised that " some people will be able to start using it soon". The app promises to let you save government documents to your phone using an app. These will meet the Government's own digital identity trust framework standards as outlined by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

You will be able to use GOV.UK Wallet to:

• Securely save Government-issued digital documents,
• Show these documents to organisations, businesses and other parts of government to prove things such as your age, identity, or eligibility for local council or Government services

You will be able to use the digital versions of documents in the same way as paper or card versions. However, unlike Apple Wallet and Google Wallet on your smartphone and tablet, it won't be possible to add non-Government documents, like train or concert tickets, to GOV.UK Wallet.

Use of GOV.UK Wallet will be entirely optional, No.10 has confirmed.