Smartphones have become the central object of people’s daily lives. Rare are those who forget them, even for short errands. Therefore, it makes sense for smartphone manufacturers and carmakers to work together to gradually replace car keys.

Smartphones will be at the center of the progress towards hands-free car access and ignition. Thanks to their communication abilities, Bluetooth, NFC, integration of UWB (Ultra Wide Band for precise location) technology, and their capability to secure exchanges, smartphones appear to be the easiest and safest solution.

These Digital Car Keys are highly secure. They cannot be duplicated since they are unique to each user and connect wirelessly to the car through integrated sensors. They can also be secured by exchanging authentication certificates over the network. In case of theft or loss, the key function or the smartphone itself can be remotely deactivated.

The application part of the Digital Car Key solution running on the Smart Card (UICC) in the mobile phone has been implemented in Java Card technology, as Java Card is providing the interoperability to easily load this applet onto UICCs from different manufacturers. The UICCs in mobile phones will come from different UICC suppliers and thus Java Card was the platform of choice to avoid the need for developing device specific applets. This way, the car manufacturer can rely on the fact that his applet will run on any mobile device.

Find out more:

Background to Digital Car Keys: https://www.idemia.com/key-unlock-and-start-your-car-bit-backstory-about-car-keys

Digital Car Key solutions: https://www.idemia.com/digital-car-keys