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Anything that looks like compulsory photo id or makes carrying ID more 'established', however convenient it is to use, is a bad idea. In the UK you don't have to carry any id for any normal daily purpose, not even for driving and this is a fundamental aspect of our view of civil liberties. So, while it would be convenient to carry your license in this form, no officer could demand to see it as you are not required to carry your license, only to produce it at a police station within 7 days if asked to do so.
 
I often drive without my license on me - there's no legal requirement to carry one in the UK: If you get stopped you have 7 days to produce it at a police station.
Um. How do the police stop you and find out if you have any warrants issued on you?
 
Excellent. Look forward to that. I've made it a policy of ditching all my loyalty cards and only using those with an app or virtual card.
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Um. How do the police stop you and find out if you have any warrants issued on you?

If you're driving the police can check your licence plate against their national database which will show if you have a valid licence, insurance and road tax. Otherwise if you have no ID and the police are suspicious they can simply arrest you and make further inquiries using your fingerprints and/or DNA which would flag up any outstanding warrants.
 
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/

They can do it for minimal reasons and ask for it to verify that your are the correct user of said vehicle.
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State Farm's Pocket Agent App has your insurance card digitally.

Same here with Allstate and Esurance.
 
Not to go all conspiracy theorist here but in the US, I believe you are required to produce identification is requested from the authorities. BUT, if it is in a phone that you must unlock to show them and another physical form does not exist, then it will be pretty hard to say, "yea, i forgot my password so you can't get into my phone." But, I also am guessing if you are in that situation, you'll just give the finger to anyone and everyone at that point just in case.
This isn't a conspiracy theory. What IS a conspiracy theory and also fact is that this is all planned. They want all of your info in one single device because this gets you used to the idea of having all your personal and biometric info in a single device. This then leads to human chipping on a mass scale which will be voluntary because by the time that is put into place we will want it by nature. They won't even have to force us. Apple, Google and everyone else are all in it together. The grass roots Apple of yesteryear is dust in the wind.
 
What about getting carded for drinks? I don't see liquor store owners, bartenders, and club bouncers accepting digital driving licenses as proof of age any time soon. How would they confirm authenticity?

But I would love this to happen ubiquitously. I also need my insurance card in my phone (since it is legally required here).

Another issue: with all these cards and tickets going digital, we're often going to be forced to hand over our expensive phones with personal information to people. It would be ideal if we NEVER have to hand anything over to anyone because EVERYONE is equipped to accept Apple Watch for EVERYTHING, but that will never happen in this world. Instead, maybe it would be better if we had some sort of cheaper peripheral that we could hand people rather than our phones, like an e-ink card. It could sync with our phone and temporarily display card or ticket information on it. This kind of reverts back to having a card but at least it's only one card. And maybe it can attach to your phone when not in use. Maybe if it's designed together with the phone, it could even serve as a secondary e-ink screen when attached, which can save battery.
 
It does not seem like a good idea to base any legal or government IT solution on a proprietary solution of a single vendor. So we all will have to get an iPhone to be able to use a digital ID ? I sure hope not...
 
What about getting carded for drinks? I don't see liquor store owners, bartenders, and club bouncers accepting digital driving licenses as proof of age any time soon. How would they confirm authenticity?

But I would love this to happen ubiquitously. I also need my insurance card in my phone (since it is legally required here).

Another issue: with all these cards and tickets going digital, we're often going to be forced to hand over our expensive phones with personal information to people. It would be ideal if we NEVER have to hand anything over to anyone because EVERYONE is equipped to accept Apple Watch for EVERYTHING, but that will never happen in this world. Instead, maybe it would be better if we had some sort of cheaper peripheral that we could hand people rather than our phones, like an e-ink card. It could sync with our phone and temporarily display card or ticket information on it. This kind of reverts back to having a card but at least it's only one card. And maybe it can attach to your phone when not in use. Maybe if it's designed together with the phone, it could even serve as a secondary e-ink screen when attached, which can save battery.

In the UK we only show them the card they look at pic and DOB that's it. No need to hand it over just point it at them. Also being on a screen should mean they can see it more clearly.

Also if digital it could make renewing a licence much quicker and cheaper. You could easily include in it vehicle, medical and legal information which would be of use which if stopped for a check could result in far quicker processing and a reduction in the time you are inconvenienced for.

I fully support this but until everywhere I use ditches cards for Wallet and I have a phone I know the battery will last on then I am still screwed.
 
In the UK we only show them the card they look at pic and DOB that's it. No need to hand it over just point it at them. Also being on a screen should mean they can see it more clearly.

That's how we do it in the States too but they also look to make sure the ID is legit. I assume they do that in the UK as well? A physical ID has tell signs of being fake but I have no idea how they can verify a digital ID by sight. Any under age kid could slap their face on a screenshot of an ID in no time at all.
 
I fully admit that I don't know how the UK's new program will authorize and issue "digital" IDs, but I'd be weary of fakes or forgeries that can easily be created in Photoshop and Illustrator. How and where would such an ID be stored in a mobile phone--in the photos gallery? How would it be validated? I'm sure this has all been worked out already, but it does beg the question. Or perhaps, maybe this doesn't really matter in the UK?

One aspect of physical drivers licenses here in the US at least is holographic overlays and other similar finishings like BCS magnetic and coded scanners that legitimize the ID and prevent tampering and counterfeiting.
 
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Um. How do the police stop you and find out if you have any warrants issued on you?


The police have the power to detain anyone until they have satisfied them that they are who they say they are.

People can be given a "producer" which is to attend the station within 7 days producing documents, that however is mainly used for insurance, mot etc as I certainly wouldn't want someone driving around without a license and would feel uncomfortable letting them for a further 7 days!

From my time in the police people generally had some form or ID on themselves and I had never given a producer as I always managed to ascertain their ID at the road side.

As and Ex cop this looks useful in the sense that it's another way of keeping ID on you for those that don't carry a wallet and could save you being arrested. Apart from that it's no big deal. I personally carry a wallet with my driving license and bank / credit card in and that's it. It doesn't take up too much space.
 
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Seems like a good idea; I always carry my Driving Licence around with me in my wallet and if I could leave it safe at home at least I'd know I have back up if I ever needed it for something (i.e. Proof of Identity).
 
I often drive without my license on me - there's no legal requirement to carry one in the UK: If you get stopped you have 7 days to produce it at a police station.

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

I realise I'm being totally pedantic here as in the "real world" you're correct; but it is actually an offence under the Road Traffic Act to fail to show your license to a police officer when requested (i.e. at that immediate time). However, the Act also offers a statutory defence of producing it at a nominated police station within 7 days. What's the difference? Well, it means that if you fail to produce it in 7 days, the offence you'd have committed would be failing to produce your license at the original time it was requested. This means that if you were unable to produce within 7 days for a legitimate reason, say you'd been hit by a bus and hospitalised, you'd still actually have no legal defence to the charge.

The reality is, unlike a few years ago where the primary proof of license, MOT and insurance was the documents themselves, these days the primary records of these are stored online and are accessible from the Police National Computer (PNC). So in most cases the police officer can carry out a roadside check for himself so 7-day "producers" are not commonly issued, probably only if the PNC is down, the radio net is busy, the PNC records don't match the story (new car, insurance just renewed etc), or the driver is just being a total t**t so the officer decides to inconvenience him. Of course, if the officer has reason to believe that anything is not in order, he can still detain the driver to carry out further checks.
 
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The police have the power to detain anyone until they have satisfied them that they are who they say they are.

People can be given a "producer" which is to attend the station within 7 days producing documents, that however is mainly used for insurance, mot etc as I certainly wouldn't want someone driving around without a license and would feel uncomfortable letting them for a further 7 days!

From my time in the police people generally had some form or ID on themselves and I had never given a producer as I always managed to ascertain their ID at the road side.

As and Ex cop this looks useful in the sense that it's another way of keeping ID on you for those that don't carry a wallet and could save you being arrested. Apart from that it's no big deal. I personally carry a wallet with my driving license and bank / credit card in and that's it. It doesn't take up too much space.
Interesting. But isn't that kind of a faith based system? Like...what if they lied about who they were and then DONT show up to the station to prove who they are later? What if it turned out they had all kinds of warrants on them for all kinds of crazy stuff?

I don't know. I'm sure I'm just overthinking this. I never drive without my license anyway. Would be nice to have my entire wallet inside my phone though.
 
One aspect of physical drivers licenses here in the US at least is holographic overlays and other similar finishings like BCS magnetic and coded scanners that legitimize the ID and prevent tampering and counterfeiting.

That was my earlier point. Unless some 'foolproof' verification system came with it, my company would still insist on UV checking the physical card or passport for authenticity. They'd want some backup to the picture stored in Wallet.
 
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That was my earlier point. Unless some 'foolproof' verification system came with it, my company would still insist on UV checking the physical card or passport for authenticity. They'd want some backup to the picture stored in Wallet.
Exactly. This is why a standalone electronic ID seems a little mystifying to me at least. I love the idea in theory, it just doesn't seem 100% practical... unless we're all getting some kind of electrical chip implant. (Some New World Order conspiracy sh*t right there. Got my tinfoil ready! :eek:)
 
What about getting carded for drinks? I don't see liquor store owners, bartenders, and club bouncers accepting digital driving licenses as proof of age any time soon. How would they confirm authenticity?
In Alabama state liquor stores accept the Apple wallet version issued now by the state for renewals. They scan the barcode just like Starbucks.
 
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