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Curious how it works for organ donors or people that get into a nasty wreck. Can’t be identified by a physical ID till you get back into consciousness to unlock your phone.

Had a friend that got hit by a hit and run driver while she was crossing the street her way home. People found her unconscious and she went into coma….so with something like this how would authority know who she is???
You can’t use this to drive yet. No police department is said to accept Apple Wallet ID. So it’s a no-go, you must have the plastic. Though some states have their own app. However even if they have their own app they don’t necessarily make it legal to only drive with their app on your phone, you must still have the plastic ID on you when you drive.

So in some limited circumstances, there are states with their own app, that you can legally drive with, without having the plastic ID. In a wreck, they could look for any possible identification you have on you or in the car, including but not limited to credit or debit cards, other ID cards, the registration you legally must have in the car (if it’s not your car they can call the owner and ask who drove), then when they get your identification they can actually call the DMV and get your organ donor registration.

Also Apple Health app actually has Medical ID with organ donor status as a field you can fill out. Your Medical ID can be presented automatically with crash detection. It’s not necessarily linked to your legal registration, but I’m sure if you filled it out with “I am an organ donor” and it turned out you weren’t an organ donor, then I guess the hospital would get a “good faith” exemption from the law that they saw sufficient evidence you were an organ donor, simply because you filled it out that way. Similar if you filled out other fields wrong and it came back to bite them, ie you put in not-real conditions and they treated you for those conditions, medical providers do get “good faith” provisions in situations like that.
 
Curious how it works for organ donors or people that get into a nasty wreck. Can’t be identified by a physical ID till you get back into consciousness to unlock your phone.

Had a friend that got hit by a hit and run driver while she was crossing the street her way home. People found her unconscious and she went into coma….so with something like this how would authority know who she is???
If you have your Medical ID filled out in Apple Health, it can be accessed from the Lock Screen. Turn your phone away from you so Face ID doesn't work, then click on "Emergency" at the bottom left of the screen. Click on "Medical ID" on the bottom left of the Emergency Screen and it pops up. Shows your name, age, language you speak, organ donor status, emergency contact name/phone #, and any medical information you've provided. Authorities can run you through their computers by name and age and you'll pop up in the DMV database if you've ever had a driver's license/ID card.
 
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You can’t use this to drive yet. No police department is said to accept Apple Wallet ID. So it’s a no-go, you must have the plastic. Though some states have their own app. However even if they have their own app they don’t necessarily make it legal to only drive with their app on your phone, you must still have the plastic ID on you when you drive.

So in some limited circumstances, there are states with their own app, that you can legally drive with, without having the plastic ID. In a wreck, they could look for any possible identification you have on you or in the car, including but not limited to credit or debit cards, other ID cards, the registration you legally must have in the car (if it’s not your car they can call the owner and ask who drove), then when they get your identification they can actually call the DMV and get your organ donor registration.

Also Apple Health app actually has Medical ID with organ donor status as a field you can fill out. Your Medical ID can be presented automatically with crash detection. It’s not necessarily linked to your legal registration, but I’m sure if you filled it out with “I am an organ donor” and it turned out you weren’t an organ donor, then I guess the hospital would get a “good faith” exemption from the law that they saw sufficient evidence you were an organ donor, simply because you filled it out that way. Similar if you filled out other fields wrong and it came back to bite them, ie you put in not-real conditions and they treated you for those conditions, medical providers do get “good faith” provisions in situations like that.
I once got into an accident and forgot my interim driver license, I just tell the police my driver license number and the police and look it up from his computer. I also once got pulled over by an police due to speeding, I handed my foreign driver license that doesn't have English name with my passport with English name, he wrote an ticket but it never appear in my driving records when insurance company pull over my US driver license information.
 
Are these Apple issued digital IDs useful yet? Where would you use them to prove your identity?

In Europe, we also have digital IDs. The technology stack is quite complicated with lots of cryptography behind the scenes. You can use them to prove your identity online when you submit paperwork to public authorities or when you enter contractual agreements with companies like banks.
 
It will happen. I can tell you it is so nice to no longer need to carry a wallet or any physical card whatsoever.

But you can't get away with using it as your actual ID, so you still need to carry the physical card.
 
You can’t use this to drive yet. No police department is said to accept Apple Wallet ID. So it’s a no-go, you must have the plastic. Though some states have their own app. However even if they have their own app they don’t necessarily make it legal to only drive with their app on your phone, you must still have the plastic ID on you when you drive.

So in some limited circumstances, there are states with their own app, that you can legally drive with, without having the plastic ID. In a wreck, they could look for any possible identification you have on you or in the car, including but not limited to credit or debit cards, other ID cards, the registration you legally must have in the car (if it’s not your car they can call the owner and ask who drove), then when they get your identification they can actually call the DMV and get your organ donor registration.

Also Apple Health app actually has Medical ID with organ donor status as a field you can fill out. Your Medical ID can be presented automatically with crash detection. It’s not necessarily linked to your legal registration, but I’m sure if you filled it out with “I am an organ donor” and it turned out you weren’t an organ donor, then I guess the hospital would get a “good faith” exemption from the law that they saw sufficient evidence you were an organ donor, simply because you filled it out that way. Similar if you filled out other fields wrong and it came back to bite them, ie you put in not-real conditions and they treated you for those conditions, medical providers do get “good faith” provisions in situations like that.
A new Georgia law took effect last month where you can use a digital ID (such as Apple Wallet) on traffic stops:

 
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A new Georgia law took effect last month where you can use a digital ID (such as Apple Wallet) on traffic stops:

That doesn’t confirm they will accept Apple’s (since it could be their own app only), but it’s possible.
 
That doesn’t confirm they will accept Apple’s (since it could be their own app only), but it’s possible.
Georgia doesn't have a Digital ID app. The law is specifically for smartphone wallets such as Apple, Google, etc.

 
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Georgia doesn't have a Digital ID app. The law is specifically for smartphone wallets such as Apple, Google, etc.

Georgia police departments are given till 2027 to get the equipment, you're still going to have to carry your physical license. Chances are you'll be pulled over by an officer that isn't equipped with the digital readers.. Especially smaller departments. The article you listed says it would be a good idea to keep your physical license with you until it's fully implemented July 2027.
 
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Georgia doesn't have a Digital ID app. The law is specifically for smartphone wallets such as Apple, Google, etc.

Ah, I mistook it for a different state.

Though do note it’s not saying they accept mobile wallet now, it’s saying within 2 years they will have to accept mobile ID.
 
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I guarantee if the departments are given till 2027 to get the equipment, you're still going to have to carry your physical license. Chances are you'll be pulled over by an officer that isn't equipped with the digital readers.. Especially smaller departments. The article you listed says it would be a good idea to keep your physical license with you until it's fully implemented July 2027.
Doubt it. The bill makes it legal to only present a digital id as of 7/1/2025, so you can't get a ticket for not having a physical id. If the department hasn't purchased the equipment yet, they can easily put in your DL # into their computer or dispatch to validate.

The Georgia law forced all police depts to buy the equipment within 2 years, but it doesn't affect the legality of only presenting a digital id as of 7/1/25.
 
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For security reasons, I don't ever want to hand my powered-on, unlocked phone to anyone (officer).

I'll keep my plastic card.
 
For security reasons, I don't ever want to hand my powered-on, unlocked phone to anyone (officer).

I'll keep my plastic card.

It's the same as when paying by Apple Pay. You aren't handing your phone to the cashier when you make purchases. Same with TSA and police. Your ID is digitally transmitted via NFC. The phone stays in your hand.
 
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Surprisingly the place I have had the most difficulty using it was picking up items AT AN APPLE STORE!
Not surprising at all. Only a few percent (at most) of people in the US have digital IDs at this point, so very few businesses have purchased the necessary scanners, and integrated them into their systems, and trained their personnel to use them. It will be years before they're widely used.

The proper course of action is to get the digital ID when you feel like it, and go on about your business using your physical ID, and be pleasantly surprised at some point in the future when its acceptance starts becoming more commonplace - not trying to cajole store employees into using it when they're not set up for that yet. I expect the vast majority of people will wait years before getting them (many people were scrambling a few months ago to get RealID certified licenses last-minute, and those have been in the pipeline for decades now). For me, I happily added my digital license to my Apple Wallet the day that California made it available. Haven't used it for anything yet, and that doesn't bother me in the slightest - all it cost me was a few minutes of my time, and I'll be ready when adoption of the readers becomes widespread.
 
Where do you live? I am in GA and the only place digital works is TSA/Law enforcement. Bars/Package stores still require physical IDs.
QLD. Digital licence is legally equivalent to physical.

Any business can choose what information they require.
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