I write to you from Germany, where I work. I use an android device.
The transportation authority I am in is called Mainzer Mobilität and because my employer only covers 50% of the transportation costs if I use the digital travel card and not the physical one, I’m basically forced to use google wallet, which I hate. This transportation authority doesn’t offer pkpass files I could use with FOSS Wallet or pdf cards with my full name and a small qr code I could download. It has to be google wallet or use a physical card (and pay double).
I used to take a screenshot of the qr code and download the receipt as a pdf each month. On the receipt everyone can see the relevant data, including my full name, address, expiry date of the travel document, type of travel card and what I paid, but 5 days ago a “Kontrolleur” (an employee who boards buses to identify passengers without valid travel documents) fined me for not showing him the google wallet app with my pass there.
Yo read that right, it MUST be google wallet, otherwise I’m not carrying a valid travel document. The qr code alone together with the receipt with all my data and my identity card are not enough.
Is there any FOSS wallet or application that would work in Germany like google wallet does?
I really hate being forced to use google crap like this, I really don’t want to trust them with my data but I need to save as much as I can.
Feel free to suggest other communities where I could ask this question.
So I questioned somebody checking my ticket and they explained that lots of people buy the ticket online, screenshot the qrcode and refund it afterwards (14 period online in Germany).
The app checks regularly if the certificate (pkpass) has been revoked and displays that fact somehow. And that’s why they want to see it in an app.
The qrcode certificate is signed and allows to check the validity of a ticket even if both phones are offline, which is a lot on German railway. The drawback is that once a certificate has been signed its valid for a given time and you need to check a certificate revoke list online to see certificates that have been marked invalid. Which none of the phones used by railway personnel does.
Fair warning the workaround i use could also be used for fraud. But as the system has been designed by smart people and is being abused by monkeys, I will still share.
Usually there is a way to download or scan the pkpass version of the ticket. And then you just import it into any app that doesn’t check the CRL. Like passandroid on fdroid.
I travel daily on Deutschland ticket and have never had the case that anybody asked to see it it is a screenshot and complain that its not the right app. There are actually more valid apps than railway companies in Germany. Monkey get told “check is not screenshot”, monkey do. Nomad happy and not so mad after all.
So I questioned somebody checking my ticket and they explained that lots of people buy the ticket online, screenshot the qrcode and refund it afterwards (14 period online in Germany).
do you mean people will buy a qr code, screenshot it, use it for up to 14 days and return it? do they get the whole refund back? Never heard of this. How can it be even possible?
Or do you mean something else?
This 14 online period you talk about. Are you talking about the deutsche bahn? because I’m dealing with a local authority, the mainzer mobilität.
On the fine they gave me, a so called “Beförderungsentgelt” it says if I show them proof that I own a valid travel ticket up to the 15.09 I don’t have to pay 60 Euros as a fine, but 7. Not that it’s fair they refuse to accept my receipt as a valid proof of payment and I’m contesting that as well.
The qrcode certificate is signed and allows to check the validity of a ticket even if both phones are offline, which is a lot on German railway.
and that’s why I always copy the qr code and have a copy of it on my phone. This was never a problem in the last 3 years, just with this one Kontrolleur.
Usually there is a way to download or scan the pkpass version of the ticket.
I’m all ears. If it’s of any help the website I access my profile page, download my receipts and screenshot my qr code from is https://abo.ride-ticketing.de/
A year ago I asked them to send me a pkpass copy of my ticket and I’m still waiting :D
I travel daily on Deutschland ticket and have never had the case that anybody asked to see it it is a screenshot and complain that its not the right app.
then I just had back luck and had to deal with somebody not very smart.
ich habe sowieso Widerspruch angelegt.
It works by public key cryptography. They sign that your name bought a ticket with a secret key and everybody checking tickets has a public key to check it with which can’t be used to forge a signature.
Yes I’m talking about 14 days, sorry. Just refund the ticket and now you have a valid signature under your name etc that you can show anybody checking tickets. They can’t take that piece of information from you. But that can publish on a public list which tickets were invalidated afterwards. Which nobody bothers checking, instead they rely on the apps checking that.
Pkpass is just a formated version of what data is contained inside the qrcode. It should be possible to scan the code and save it as pkpass. But im not sure. My website allows importing into google wallet or downloading the pkpass for another wallet.
Edit: the last part of the comment is wrong! The qrcode is enough data to allow checking the ticket but usually doesn’t contain more than the signed data for the ticket. That is enough to allow showing a valid qrcode, but not enough to display all related data. So you could in theory construct your own “thin” pkpass file or you might try reverse engineering the data inside the jwt token from the google wallet link to build a pkpass file from.
Edit2: here you find a tool to do this. You can use the signature for the barcode to display a valid ticket code, but you won’t be able to create a valid container signature, so you need an app that will accept that anyways. (Apple wallet doesn’t) https://github.com/google-wallet/pass-converter/blob/main/README.md
Maybe just try calling and telling them you have an iPhone and no google account. Or buy your ticket from another source.
You’ve mentioned that you get your ticket from ride ticketing in another comment, right? I’ve successfully used the .pkpass file from ride ticketing with FossWallet in the past. Just remember to refresh your ticket in the app every month.
You’ve mentioned that you get your ticket from ride ticketing in another comment, right?
right. Would you guide me li5?
I just opened FOSSWallet and added/scanned the qr code. Now I have an archived pass I named dticket on FOSSWallet. If I tap on it I see the qr code I scanned, a very large alphanumeric code with lots of <, >, numbers and letters.
Did I download the pkpass file on my phone?
Sadly I don’t have access to the ride ticketing interface anymore. But I remember it was an option on their web interface to download the .pkpass file. It might have been named Apple pass or something. I didn’t scan a QR code to add the ticket to FossWallet.
Found this forum thread, it seems they changed a few things but you might still be able to get the .pkpass file
Translated solution from the thread:
- Copy the link behind the Add to Google Wallet button and paste it into a new tab
- Don’t execute the link, but modify the last part of the link: change /google-wallet to /apple-wallet
- Now run the link. The pkpass file should now be offered for download
thank you very much for this post! I downloaded the pkpass file.
Does Mainzer Mobilität not provide an app for their services, so that you don’t have to pull your card into google wallet?
This just sounds discriminatory and the conductor/kontrolleur or atleast the company could be sued for that.
Have you tried KDE Itinerary?
Does Mainzer Mobilität not provide an app for their services, so that you don’t have to pull your card into google wallet?
nope. none whatsoever. It’s either google wallet or a physical card.
I’m not a lawyer but AFAIK it’s illegal for the discount to only be offered in a digital format if it’s not interoperable. Have you reached out to the Mainzer Mobilität customer service to clarify your options (the kontrolleti often don’t know the rules they are supposed to apply), or you local Verbraucherzentralen?
AFAIK it’s illegal for the discount to only be offered in a digital format
asking the obligatory: in Germany?
Yes, but again, I’m not a lawyer and I’m saying this with my very general knowledge of competition and labour (for the job benefit part) laws.
I think there’s a misunderstanding. I work for a big local company. They’re the ones offering the discount, but only if I don’t use a physical card.
Job benefits cannot be discriminatory. Do you have a Works Council? Have you talked with your HR?
Do you have a Works Council?
do you mean a Betriebsrat? I do.
Then my advice is to talk with them first, since they have more leverage and access to lawyers in case HR decides to not cooperate in getting you access to your job benefits.
