UK Developing Digital Driving License Stored in Apple Wallet App

[ipedro]

In the future, drivers in the United Kingdom may be able to store their driver's licenses digitally in Apple's Wallet app, bringing Apple one step closer to fully replacing the traditional physical wallet.

Oliver Morley, CEO of the UK's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, showed off a prototype version of a digital driving license on Twitter this morning (via The Independent). In the image, the Wallet app on the iPhone was shown with a virtual copy of a UK driving license, stored right next to other Wallet cards.

​

According to Morley, the feature is still a prototype and will not serve as a full replacement for a driving license, but an add-on, with its implementation possible following the discontinuation of a paper driving license counterpart in June of 2015. Security is one of the main priorities for the introduction of the digital driving license in the UK.

Should the digital driving license feature be introduced in the United Kingdom, it's not a stretch to imagine it also being introduced in additional countries like the United States as the digital wallet concept grows in popularity. In fact, at least one state in the United States is already testing the idea - in 2014, Iowa said it was working on a digital app that would allow customers to use digital ID cards instead of physical cards.

Article Link: UK Developing Digital Driving License Stored in Apple Wallet App

Government ID: the final frontier.

There are several ways to ensure that digital IDs aren't tampered with and not simply photoshopped copies. Have the data such as photo and information on a government server. When an official like a traffic cop requests your ID, you show it to them, they scan a randomized QR code that then independently downloads the ID to their own device. If the two don't match perfectly, it's a fake.

This could end up being more secure than physical drivers licenses and end the fake ID market once and for all.

 

[jonnysods]

Man get my gun license, Costco card and visa on Apple Pay and it's good bye license!

 

[morcutt11]

Finally....
My dream of getting rid of my wallet is getting closer...

 

[paulgarb]

The DVLA should stop wasting their time (and my money) on vanity projects like this and get the normal stuff working acceptably - I will guess the idiots earning pots of money on this aren't the civil servants being asked to work weekend for no pay (or the medical panels)! (Sorry does my issue show?)

Frankly the DVLA could not host a "party" in a brewery

 

[furthurmoe]

Alabama started doing the digital license too. ALABAMA! http://whnt.com/2015/07/23/digital-...-renewal-available-for-first-time-in-alabama/

In the future, drivers in the United Kingdom may be able to store their driver's licenses digitally in Apple's Wallet app, bringing Apple one step closer to fully replacing the traditional physical wallet.

Oliver Morley, CEO of the UK's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, showed off a prototype version of a digital driving license on Twitter this morning (via The Independent). In the image, the Wallet app on the iPhone was shown with a virtual copy of a UK driving license, stored right next to other Wallet cards.

​

According to Morley, the feature is still a prototype and will not serve as a full replacement for a driving license, but an add-on, with its implementation possible following the discontinuation of a paper driving license counterpart in June of 2015. Security is one of the main priorities for the introduction of the digital driving license in the UK.

Should the digital driving license feature be introduced in the United Kingdom, it's not a stretch to imagine it also being introduced in additional countries like the United States as the digital wallet concept grows in popularity. In fact, at least one state in the United States is already testing the idea - in 2014, Iowa said it was working on a digital app that would allow customers to use digital ID cards instead of physical cards.

Article Link: UK Developing Digital Driving License Stored in Apple Wallet App

 

[GenesisST]

you don't need to unlock the phone to access Wallet.

Yeah, but lose you iPhone with all that **** and lose your identity...

I was thinking while typing the above: it would probably require a big fat tough id thumb print...

 

[l00pback]

Some stuff on the iPhone is accessible even with the phone locked.

For example, if you have your health information set up on the phone, if you hit the emergency button (under the keypad on the lock screen) it'll give the option to display your medical information. Supposedly medical personal know to look in there to quickly find out about any medical conditions you may have when all they have is your unconscious body and your phone.

Apple could make it so your ID is accessible even when the phone is locked.

Then police cruisers just need to have a way to charge your phone and turn it on for in case it dies. They already spend a few minutes doing whatever in their cruiser during a routine stop. Waiting a few minutes for the phone to charge up
and turn on doesn't seem like a big deal.

*Personnel

I think the onus would be on you, the driver, to make sure your phone is charged. Just like the onus is on you to carry your license on you now. Letting the battery die is akin to leaving your wallet at home.

Anyway, it's not usually a big deal to not have your license on your person. As long as you can give the officer enough information (name & address) to be able to look up your info to verify you're allowed to be driving.

 

[bennibeef]

I really really want this, but I dont think we are there and I currently have just little idea how.

The problem with this and a "real world" license is that you can so easily fake it. Just showing wont be enough somehow it needs to be validated. And I dont know of a feasible way (yet?)

the real world license requires quite a lot of work to make it look real, on the other hand the Wallet version is rather easy. You could easily make your own pass and load it onto an iphone and make it look just like the real one.

And well, if lets say, Apple makes a special version of a pass, not just tickets and loyality cards or memberships (there are only a couple of versions a pass can come in) for licenses or government stuff You can easily go and just make a screenshot with a fake drivers license or just make an app that looks like Wallet and works like it and use it. Much easier than making fake documents.

But then again I really want this.


Edit: I get the point of if the police stops you, they will take the license and look it up if you are actually allowed to drive. This is a more general thing for such documents/licenses

Edit2: After reading through, here are actually some really good ideas with verification of client side/ server side QR codes etc. There is a way!!

 

[l00pback]

Yeah, but lose you iPhone with all that **** and lose your identity...

I was thinking while typing the above: it would probably require a big fat tough id thumb print...

What happens today if you lose your wallet?

EDIT: If you do lose your wallet today, you cannot remotely erase everything that's in it. With the iPhone, you can.

 

[goobot]

Alabama started doing the digital license too. ALABAMA! http://whnt.com/2015/07/23/digital-...-renewal-available-for-first-time-in-alabama/

The fact that Alabama is doing it over other states actually isn't surprising. Without a way of verifying the legitimacy of the digital license along with the fact that a 12 year old could make a fake digital license, a liberal state wouldn't do it for fear of an 18 year old obtaining a little bit of alcohol.

 

[l00pback]

I really really want this, but I dont think we are there and I currently have just little idea how.

The problem with this and a "real world" license is that you can so easily fake it. Just showing wont be enough somehow it needs to be validated. And I dont know of a feasible way (yet?)

the real world license requires quite a lot of work to make it look real, on the other hand the Wallet version is rather easy. You could easily make your own pass and load it onto an iphone and make it look just like the real one.

And well, if lets say, Apple makes a special version of a pass, not just tickets and loyality cards or memberships (there are only a couple of versions a pass can come in) for licenses or government stuff You can easily go and just make a screenshot with a fake drivers license or just make an app that looks like Wallet and works like it and use it. Much easier than making fake documents.

But then again I really want this.


Edit: I get the point of if the police stops you, they will take the license and look it up if you are actually allowed to drive. This is a more general thing for such documents/licenses

It depends on what you're using the fake license for. Are you trying to buy beer as a minor? Sure, that might work. Are you trying to fool a government agency? They have ways to verify what they're looking at on the screen. If your fake ID has a fake DL number, what happens when the state trooper types it into their computer? Or scans the 2D barcode?

 

[konqerror]

When an official like a traffic cop requests your ID, you show it to them, they scan a randomized QR code that then independently downloads the ID to their own device. If the two don't match perfectly, it's a fake.

They already do this for US passports at the border. They just scan the number from it, everything else comes from the server. All the authentication and security is for other countries, for example a land border in the middle of Africa.

 

[bennibeef]

It depends on what you're using the fake license for. Are you trying to buy beer as a minor? Sure, that might work. Are you trying to fool a government agency? They have ways to verify what they're looking at on the screen. If your fake ID has a fake DL number, what happens when the state trooper types it into their computer? Or scans the 2D barcode?

Like I said in my two edits, If the trooper takes your license and walks to his car to verify - that way works.

And like I said in my second edit, there are enough ways to make it work. Like the server side generated QR/2D barcodes which would be scanned and compared to the server side generated.

 

[rictus007]

So an iPhone charger on every car should be mandatory! Lol

 

[MH01]

No thanks . For people who are worried about privacy, putting your liscence onto your phone is not a good idea .

So your giving up your personal details , address, credit card information, shopping history, your movements ...... And people Are complaining that Google or the governments want too much info? Now just need to upload your birth certificate to the wallet and your done .

 

[kildraik]

Nice. Would like to see insurance cards in the Wallet as well.

 

[shanson27]

But UK will leave the EU

 

[dk001]

I believe I read somewhere recently there are some states already working on this option. I don't remember all the details or where I read it though.

California started looking at this early 2015. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) they quickly ran into the privacy questions / concerns and it has pretty much ground to a stop.
[doublepost=1463176022][/doublepost]

It depends on what you're using the fake license for. Are you trying to buy beer as a minor? Sure, that might work. Are you trying to fool a government agency? They have ways to verify what they're looking at on the screen. If your fake ID has a fake DL number, what happens when the state trooper types it into their computer? Or scans the 2D barcode?

Think TSA .....

 

[Ynot]

So an iPhone charger on every car should be mandatory! Lol

Unless you are in a cabriolet, when you use your Phone in a Car you are in a Faraday cage that means its much more difficult for you Phone to reach the Cell towers, so your Phone boosts its Send/Receive Power an your Batterie depletes a lot faster. So maybe thats the reason your phones Batterie is always empty. Plug in and Buckel up, and you will always have a Charged Phone when you leave your car. Your driving a xxxx$ car, using a xxx$ Phone and can't afford a xx$ Car Charger now that is LOL

 

[jayducharme]

Police typically need probable cause that you are doing something illegal for them to ask for and legally require your ID in the US. If you are not being detained you can respectfully refuse and ask if you are free to go.

While that's the ideal scenario, it no longer always works that way. In the U.S. it's more common now that you're guilty until proven innocent:

http://artandeverythingafter.com/i-fit-the-description/

 

[gnasher729]

I think it's awesome, as long as paper licenses still exist and people can place them somewhere safe in case the iPhone battery dies or something.

Every police officer who expects to check driving licenses has a little battery that gets connected to the lightning port and provides energy for a minute
[doublepost=1463177480][/doublepost]

Then police cruisers just need to have a way to charge your phone and turn it on for in case it dies. They already spend a few minutes doing whatever in their cruiser during a routine stop. Waiting a few minutes for the phone to charge up and turn on doesn't seem like a big deal.

I think Apple could do a hardware change so the phone starts working immediately without charging the battery at all.

 

[Nunyabinez]

Nice. Would like to see insurance cards in the Wallet as well.

State Farm's Pocket Agent App has your insurance card digitally.

 

[furthurmoe]

State Farm's Pocket Agent App has your insurance card digitally.

I keep a PDF version that my insurance company provides in iBooks.

 

[gnasher729]

Yeah, but lose you iPhone with all that **** and lose your identity...

I was thinking while typing the above: it would probably require a big fat tough id thumb print...

Everything stored in iCloud...

Interesting problem to solve: Guarantee your privacy if you connect to iCloud on a laptop or tablet owned by the police.

 

[nebo1ss]

Fantastic news, and as you say, one step closer.

I currently leave the office on occasion to lunch without my wallet (all good except for damn you, Sainsbury's), using Apple Pay on my watch as my preferred payment method. I'll soon be able to go for a drive without it too.

You can do it now. There is no requirement to have your driving license with you when driving in the UK.