Mobile ID 101: Establishing rules of the road for mobile driver’s licenses and IDs
02 November, 2017
category: Digital ID, Government
Are you ready to go digital, adopting mobile ID and mobile driver’s licenses (mDL)?
In this four-part podcast series, experts at trusted provider of secure identities, HID Global, help us explore how different our lives could be if the documents that enable us to legally drive, fish, carry a gun, attend a university or conduct a variety of other privileges were available electronically on our mobile devices. This first episode lays the foundation, exploring mobile ID 101 and why mobile IDs are becoming an important credential option for agencies and issuers around the globe.
In this four-part podcast series, we explore how different our lives could be if the documents that enable us to legally drive, fish, carry a gun or conduct a variety of other privileges were available electronically on our mobile devices
Mobile IDs are poised for rapid growth. As an example, state agencies and DMV’s are pursuing ways to augment the card that most of us have in our wallet – a card that acts more as an identifier than as the simple legal proof of our driving privileges as was originally intended.
“I think it’s inevitable that mobile driver’s licenses will be a part of our future,” says Joseph Pearson, North America Sales Vice President for Citizen ID Solutions for HID Global. “It’s only been 10 years since the iPhone was introduced. Think of all of your personal applications and uses that you have now – like banking or access control –that are able to be done with your smartphone. People simply want to be able to carry their phone by themselves.”
Pearson says the physical driver’s license is widely recognized as the primary form of citizen ID in North America, and he expects it to be around for a while as government agencies slowly investigate how to incorporate and support mobile IDs into their programs.
However, this shift to mobile ID could bring more convenience for users of government services. Pearson asks users to imagine safer interactions with law enforcement officers – for instance, traffic stops could dramatically change if a citizen had an mDL.
 governments should consider mobile driver’s licenses |
“When you have a vehicle driving license…you need to give it physically to the other person so he can read the content, and check if he can trust what he has in his hand,” says Jean-Baptiste Milan, Product Manager for Citizen ID Solutions. “With a mobile driving license, you can imagine how the interaction is quite different. It could be done remotely using prolific technology like Bluetooth. As a driver, I would receive the officer’s request directly on the screen of my mobile phone, verifying that it’s really a law enforcement officer asking for my credentials.”
Additionally, physical driver’s licenses are commonly used for identity verification at airports and government agencies. With a mobile ID, individual privacy could be better protected by limiting which pieces of information are made available.
Listen to the podcast to explore mobile ID 101 in this first installment of our series, Investigating Mobile IDs and Credentials.
Listen to other episodes from the series:
- Episode 1
Mobile ID 101: Establishing rules of the road for mobile driver’s licenses and IDs - Episode 2
Mobile ID privacy concerns and privacy-enhancing opportunities - Episode 3
State of the states for mobile driver’s license pilots - Episode 4
Mobile ID use cases beyond mobile driver’s licenses
