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Google forms Android Ready SE Alliance

by on29 March 2021


We want your keys


Smartphones have already replaced single purpose gadgets like point-and-shoot cameras and MP3 players and now Google wants to take your keys and wallets from you.

The search outfit has announced the Android Ready SE Alliance to make sure new phones have the underlying hardware to eventually replace car/home keys and wallets.

Google said that emerging user features such as digital keys, mobile driver's license (mDL), national ID, ePassports, and eMoney solutions (wallets) tamper-resistant hardware, like the Pixel's Titan M chip, which makes possible tamper-resistant key storage for Android apps (to store data) called StrongBox.

Writing in its bog, Google said these features need to run on tamper-resistant hardware to protect the integrity of the application executables and a user's data, keys, wallet, and more.

Most modern phones now include discrete tamper-resistant hardware called a Secure Element (SE), and Google thinks that SE offers the best path for introducing these new consumer use cases in Android.

To "accelerate adoption" the company and partners (Giesecke+Devrient, Kigen, NXP, STMicroelectronics, and Thales) today announced the Android Ready SE Alliance.

StrongBox is also available for Wear OS, Android Auto Embedded, and Android TV. Google says it's currently focusing on digital car keys, mobile driver's license, and other identity credentials, with unnamed.

Last modified on 29 March 2021
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