Pack Your Bags: Your Smartphone Could Very Soon Replace Your Passport

The world's biggest passport producer De La Rue is currently developing a new paperless passport.

So much has changed with the turn of technology and globalization - making the world truly become a global village. Travel has never been so easy and accessible - from self-weighing luggage, to automatic flight check-ins, to faster-than-bullet trains. Soon, even passports will have a turn at technology and paperless lifestyle.

According to the developer, passports will function similar to that of paperless boarding passes, the more environmentally friendly and handy alternative to bulky printed tickets. Though still in its early development stages, De La Rue says its primary concern is that of security- avoiding forgery or even the risk of identity theft should someone lose their phone.

In order for these smartphones to function securely as passports, they will be required to have a new hardware, not a software, to securely store it so that it will not be possible to copy it from the phone, according to David Jevans of security company Proofpoint. The digital passports, then, will have to be connected wirelessly to the passport readers as having it onscreen would only make it vulnerable to forgeries and copies being made.

This is not the first technological advancement to change the way passports are. In recent months, travelers can even take selfies for their passport photos, as well as trial runs have been made for "cloud passports". Soon enough, passports will eventually turn paperless, making travel even more accessible and easy.