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

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?

Comments

Uh huh

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:Uh huh

[Archangel Michael]

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.

Re:Uh huh

[TheGratefulNet]

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) ;(

Re:Uh huh

[Hadlock]

If you can access the data with a PIN wirelessly, why does the "owner" of the license even need direct access to it? At that point it's the issuing authority's responsibility to be able to access it using the owner's given PIN.
 
To condense the argument down, "why do you even need a phone app? why can't you just give your last name and PIN to the officer?" All the phone app is doing here is validating that you know the PIN.

Re:Uh huh

[DaHat]

Or a Windows Phone fan... both of which have had them for years.

Only now with the iPhone 6 is Apple finally getting on board the NFC party train.

Re:Uh huh

[xclr8r]

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.

Re:Uh huh

[lgw]

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.

Not to sound too paranoid

[thunderdanp]

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

Yes, freely hand it over...

[fahrbot-bot]

Simply hand the law enforcement officer your mobile phone.

... and let him search through it.

Have we reached peak app yet?

[gstoddart]

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.

Re:Have we reached peak app yet?

[6Yankee]

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

There's a nap for that.

Re:Have we reached peak app yet?

[gstoddart]

You sound old.

What part of get off my lawn was ambiguous? It says "I'm old, now fuck off".

Except as you get older you stop fetishizing technology, and decide that "no, I really don't care about this shiny bauble, because Matlock is going to be on soon, and I need to find my sweater".

I still own and use a lot of technology, some of which was invented after the steam-powered interwebs became unfashionable.

I've seen and used technology long enough to know that today's really shiny new toy is tomorrow's discarded detritus which didn't really improve my life any. Which means I've got the perspective to go straight to "I fail to see how this actually benefits me".

I'd say around 85-90% of all apps I've installed on my tablet become something I don't use fairly quickly and get uninstalled. (Yes, I know what they are and how to use one.)

I make my living working with technology, but I'm not completely beholden to it, and don't use it just simply because it exists. It needs to add value to my life, or it's just a nuisance and a gimmick.

And, quite frankly, having my drivers license as an app on a phone? Not so much with the adding of value, and really high on the "annoying and eroding my privacy" front.

If you think technology peaked in 2006 why do you even read new Slashdot articles?

Because, when you get old enough, terrorizing the youngsters becomes a hobby unto itself ... and because half of the wet behind the ears punks around here don't remember enough technology to know a damned thing about it, and are clueless enough to believe there's always been a fucking app for that.

But, after 30+ years of playing with, or working with technology ... I don't always think "hot damn, I need one of those". I think "yeah, we had something kinda like that 20+ years ago, and it was pointless then, too".

Re:transfer the ID information to the police

[DocSavage64109]

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.

Warrant?

[weiserfireman]

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.