The newest phones and the newest cars now support something called Digital Key 3.0, part of a standard developed by the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC). It combines three technologies at once:
- BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy)
- UWB (Ultra Wideband)
- NFC (Near Field Communication)
Together, these give you the best of all worlds: convenience and security.
How it works:
- As you walk towards your car, your smartphone uses BLE to let the car know you’re nearby and start UWB signalling. BLE is used to do this because UWB uses a lot of power and would drain smartphone and car batteries if always on.
- UWB measures distance with centimetre accuracy and cannot be relayed or spoofed, so the car knows for certain your phone is genuinely nearby.
- If your phone battery goes flat, you can still unlock by tapping your phone on the NFC reader area on the car door and then placing it on the NFC reader tray inside the car to start. This is because with Digital Key 3.0 NFC (tap) is designed to work even when the smartphone battery is “empty”, using a special power-reserve NFC mode. Power-reserve NFC currently works on all recent iPhones (iPhone XR and newer), and some newer Android phones, such as recent Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy models.
Does Digital Key 3.0 mean my key fobs are also relay resistant ? < Read More
Why this matters:
ADAC testing reveal 86% of keyless systems are vulnerable to car relay theft equipment, which fools the car into thinking the key is close by. Digital Key 3.0 removes the relay-attack weakness because UWB measures genuine distance — thieves cannot fake that. The phone never transmits a constant “unlock me” signal so there is nothing for a thief to pick up or relay. It provides an NFC tap if your phone battery dies (power-reserve NFC) so no physical key fob is required. You can share a digital key with family members through the official key-sharing process using Apple/Google wallet features or the manufacturer’s app which require approval steps a thief who steals your smartphone cannot realistically bypass.
Digital Key 3.0 is the direction the whole industry is moving. Over the next few years, it will become the default keyless system on most new cars. For now, it’s mainly found on newer higher-end cars and on recent iPhone/Android models that support UWB.
In short Digital Key 3.0 gives you hands-free convenience with the strongest anti-theft protection currently available.
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