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Digital driver’s licenses are slowly becoming a thing. Sooner or later, most won’t ever need to pull out their wallets or purses to grab their IDs again. Apple has partnered with a handful of states to offer residents the ability to add their licenses into their phones. Now, the tech giant has announced that California will be the latest state whose residents will be able to have a digital driver’s license in their Apple Wallet.
Apple says the launch of the digital license in California coincides with the state’s mobile driver’s license program. Before Apple’s announcement, this program saw digital licenses available through a dedicated California DMV app called DMV wallet. That program was limited to just 1.5 million people.
Adding your license to Apple Wallet is a simple enough process. After taking photos of the front and back of your license, the phone then prompts you for a few pictures of your faces from a couple of angles. Once done, Apple will share those pictures with the DMV, who will verify your identity against the photos. Once the DMV verifies that you’re you, your phone will notify you of the approval and your digital license will be available in the Wallet app. Then to use, you simply present your digital license when you need to just as if you were using Apple Pay.
California Governor Gavin Newsom hailed the digital license as making things easier for California residents. “With this new integration, we’re working to better serve the people of California in the 21st century,” he said. Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet Jennifer Bailey said Apple is excited the company finally gets to roll out this tech in its home state. “Not only is California one of the largest states in the U.S., but it’s also our own backyard, and we’re excited to bring an easy and transparent way to present IDs in our home state.”
Not everyone will be excited for this, though. There are still inherent risks to using a digital license. For one, security for them isn’t quite there yet. You also run the risk of inadvertently allowing a cop to seize and search your phone if you happen to be in a situation where you’d present one to them and not have your physical idea. Despite all of that, usage will spread. Including California, Apple says seven states are already using the tech, and three more have signed on to roll it out soon. Even Japan plans to roll out usage, which Apple says would “mark the first international expansion of IDs in Wallet.”
