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It started out as a digital hunt for credit cards and concert tickets, getting anyone with an iPhone to go through checkout lines and turnstiles.
then technology vaccine extended to passport records during the pandemic. And this week, Apple Wallet, an app that stores payment information and QR codes for iPhones and Apple Watches, added driver licenses for the first time.
Arizona on Wednesday became the first state to offer digital copies of driver’s licenses and state ID cards as part of an extensive partnership with Apple. announced last year.
The project is expected to expand to Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma and Utah and Puerto Rico. The initiative was backed by the tech giant and governments for convenience.
However, the expansion brings new scrutiny to privacy issues and Apple’s big domain. Few places will accept digital driver’s licenses at the start of the program, and Apple hasn’t said when other states and Puerto Rico will join Arizona.
Arizona residents should stop throwing away their old driver’s licenses and state ID cards. Digital ones will not be valid if stopped by the police or carded at a bar.
For now, digital licenses will only be accepted at certain security screening checkpoints at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which is operated by a federal agency, the Transportation Security Administration, officials said.
On Thursday, the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, part of the Arizona Department of Transportation, estimated that 11,500 people requested digital copies of their driver’s licenses or state ID cards.
“If they love technology and want to be an early adopter, of course,” Bill Lamoreaux, spokesman for the Department of Motor Vehicles in Arizona, said on Thursday. “This is strictly voluntary.”
In announcing the debut of this feature, Apple said that residents in participating states will be able to press the plus sign on their Apple Wallet to add their license or state-issued ID card to their iPhone or Apple Watch.
According to Apple, the process requires participants to photograph the front and back of their license using their phone’s camera and complete a series of facial and head movements. Users must also provide a selfie sent to their status using encryption, along with photos of their license so that local authorities can verify their identity.
It wasn’t immediately clear how much it would cost states to review claims for digital licenses, which Apple and state officials said would not incur additional charges for the people using them.
At airport security checkpoints, people with an iPhone or Apple Watch can hold the device to an electronic reader, which prompts them to use facial recognition, fingerprint, or a passcode to allow transmitting their encrypted information on their phone. “A TSA agent,” Apple said.
The company emphasized that personal information is not stored on Apple’s servers and people will never have to hand over their phones to security guards.
But not everyone is so optimistic about expanding technology.
“Apple is now trying to vertically integrate your entire life into your phone,” Elizabeth M. Renieris, founding director of the Notre Dame-IBM Technology Ethics Lab, said Friday.
Professor Renieris said that while Apple is known for its robust encryption technology, the company is ready to gather more information about the habits and daily activities of its customers.
“They know how many times they’ve done it, and they know when they’ve done it,” he said. “They normalize the presentation of identity and other identification information. This is also behind the talk about digital vaccine passports.”
Residents of some states can request a digital copy of their coronavirus vaccine card that can be added to their Apple Wallet that displays a QR code unique to that person. One of these states is Connecticut, which plans to join Apple’s digital licensing program.
Tony Guerrera, vice president of the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, said Friday that the state is still evaluating the technological aspects of the initiative, including privacy concerns. He said the state has no timetable for when digital licenses will become available.
“We just want to make sure all our i’s are dotted and all our t’s are crossed out,” Mr. Guerrera said. “That’s why we don’t rush.”
Still, he said he can see the appeal of being able to keep a copy of a license on an iPhone or Apple Watch.
“Listen, in today’s techno world, I used to think there were many, many people who would love to have something like this,” he said. “Apple is a world-renowned company and they’ve done their research and they know people want it.”
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