Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

In Iowa, a Phone App Could Serve As Driver's License

Posted by timothy on from the search-incident-to-arrest dept.

New submitter dubner writes Simply hand the law enforcement officer your mobile phone. That's what you can do in Iowa rather than "digging through clutter in your glove compartment for an insurance card." And soon your driver's license will be available on your phone too, according to a story in the (Des Moines Register). Iowans will soon be able to use a mobile app on their smartphones as their official driver's license issued by the Iowa Department of Transportation. Some marvelous quotes in TFA: "The new app should be highly secure ... People will use a pin number for verification." And "Branstad (Iowa governor)... noted that even Iowa children are now working on digital development projects." A raft of excuses ("battery's dead") and security problems come to mind; how would you implement such a system?

11 of 207 comments (clear)

  1. Uh huh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well, that's one way for the police to get easy access to your phone without a warrant.

    1. Re:Uh huh by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 5, Insightful

      First of all, I would suggest that handing your phone to an officer would be the stupidest idea ever. However, there is a way to transfer the ID information to the police without handing the phone over, simply employ the NFC available on many (most??) smart phones. The officer would simply BUMP the phone and the record would be retrieved from DMV.

      There is no need to hand your phone over. Period.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    2. Re:Uh huh by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 5, Insightful

      and.... we're done here.

      (yes, this is obviously the motive; get people used to handing over their phones to cops, already unlocked.)

      they must think we are all stupid.

      (and I guess, with over half of us, they are probably right) ;(

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    3. Re:Uh huh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      in the first place, i'm sure the app itself will collect a nice amount of information to phone home with.

    4. Re:Uh huh by xclr8r · · Score: 4, Insightful

      2 items. A driver's license is state property. How does it affect the ability of LEO to interact with your phone. There are laws in certain states that say if you have your phone on your person and are being searched that the phone contents are fair game to be 'rifled' through. If on the other-hand your phone is packed in a bag or in the glove box the phone is not on your person and can not be searched without a warrant. The act of NFCing your phone means it is on your person and you leave yourself open. No thanks, I like to compartmentalize my information as much as possible.

      --
      Beware of those who profit off the docile and persecute the unbelievers.
    5. Re:Uh huh by gstoddart · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Because that sounds like an awesome idea ... have your phone set to provide any other device with your ID upon request. What could possibly go wrong?

      You think the police officer is going to give you time to go in, enable NFC, and then bump?

      No, sorry. Your idea sounds silly, because it means everyone walks around with their phone in a moronic mode which says anybody can access the stuff a police officer can just by proximity.

      Or are you suggesting the cell phones natively have a "law enforcement" mode? Like that won't get hacked or abused.

      I have a better idea ... stick with ID cards, and tell the cop that without a warrant he can stay the hell away from your phone, no, you can't search my car, and I would like to talk to my lawyer before I answer any more questions.

      Assume the police are going to violate your rights, and make them prove otherwise. Don't be rude to them, but don't offer them anything either.

      Make the police understand that if they're going to systematically violate our rights, we're going to assume they're crooked and not trustworthy.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    6. Re:Uh huh by lgw · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Or, what I do, don't do anything important with your phone!

      My phone has always been just "swipe to unlock" - no protection, no encryption, no anything. The only thing on it that anyone might find interesting is my call history, and a few texts from people who didn't realize that I don't text, and the contents of my Kindle/Audible library (which I expect the government can get at anyhow).

      I like having a phone, GPS, and a few games all on the same device, but I've always expected phones to be so insecure that trying to lock one was just silly. Instead I keep important stuff off of any mobile device.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  2. Not to sound too paranoid by thunderdanp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Does this sound like a convenient way for Police to have unfettered access to your phone, in light of Riley v. California?

  3. Have we reached peak app yet? by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously, I'm getting tired of the endless stream of apps.

    The world is an app, I have an app, everybody has an app ... it's lots of hype, and very little long-term proven benefit.

    I really hope we reach peak app soon, and people STFU about apps.

    Yes, fine, you have software. We've had software for decades. But now it's on a phone or a tablet. So it's an app, and it's super awesome, and we need to dedicate countless hours of coverage to it.

    And every drooling idiot is racing to ensure they're stuff is available on an app, and telling us how our lives will be improved and perfected by apps, and how if we're not writing an app we'll fall behind and become fossilized.

    You know what? Millions of people don't use smart phones, don't use an app for everything, and can conclude our normal bodily functions without relying on an app.

    I bet 99.9% of all apps are crap, or won't be around in 5 years. But, like the .com era, you can become a billionaire by saying you have an idea for an app.

    Blah blah blah .. take your damned app and get off my lawn.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  4. Re:transfer the ID information to the police by DocSavage64109 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Don't the police have computers? Can't they just query the DMV themselves? Maybe I need to sell an app that displays a fake ID on your phone if this is what they depend on.

  5. Warrant? by weiserfireman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This seems to be a way to get your cell phone out of your hand and into the hands of the police, without a warrant, and your permission.

    SCOTUS recently ruled that the police can't search your phone without your permission, absent a warrant. Now you get pulled over, and you have to hand your unlocked cell phone to the nice police officer, while he leaves your site and goes to his car for 5 minutes or so.

    Now he has the opportunity to see what else you might have on your phone.

    As a bonus, since he has your phone, you can't use it to record your interaction with him.

    What is wrong with the piece of plastic in my wallet? It has worked well for a long time. If my State offered it, I might add it to my phone for fun, but I would still have the wallet card to give to a police officer.