Iowa Wants To Let You Carry Your Driver's License On Your Phone

An anonymous reader writes: The Iowa Department of Motor Vehicles is busily developing software that will allow users to store the information from their driver's license on their smartphone. It would also add features like a simple barcode to scan for information transfer, and two-factor authentication to access it. "At first thought, the idea seems rife with potential security and privacy issues. It is well known at this point that nothing is unhackable; and if a project is made on a government contracting schedule, the likelihood of a breach is only greater. ... Questions of security, however, must take into account context – and there, it can be argued that our current regimes of physical documents have been an enormous failure. Having every state choose their own approach for issuing IDs has led to patchwork regulations and glaring weak points in the system that criminals have repeatedly taken advantage of. Driver's licenses today are regularly forged, stolen, and compromised – it’s far from a secure situation."

Comments

Re:This has been going on for a while

[ihtoit]

but he's not compelling you to hand over for a data search, nor is he compelling you to unlock it. You've voluntarily not only unlocked the phone for him, you've handed it him. Now he has your data in unlocked condition and because you've already been pulled over for whatever moving violation, cause to search through the data just as if he were asking to see inside your glovebox to make sure you're not carrying anything illegal - actually, even easier than that for him.

Re:no worse than paper documents

[sjbe]

Who hasn't forged an ID setting their age appropriately to get alcohol?

I haven't. In fact I've never consumed any alcohol because the smell makes me nauseous. I've tasted enough beer, wine and spirits (I cook with it) to know that I find the taste repulsive as well. I have no moral issue with responsible alcohol consumption but I never saw the point in trying to get drunk, especially when under-age.

And what happens when you lose your ID, in which most wallets or purses has absolutely no form of security?

I get a new one. It happens. That's not really a big worry to be honest. I'm more worried about losing the credit cards, medical cards and cash contained in my wallet.

Re:This has been going on for a while

[TheGratefulNet]

best to assume ALL cops are dirty cops. start from there and go downward and you'll be close to reality.

look, they have this thing called a 'blue line' (google it). that makes them all dirty, by collusion. any one who does NOT report bad behavior (think: serpico) is a bad cop. and so, probably 99% of the cops out there are bad, by definition.

thugs with guns. I would trust the mafia (truly, honestly) before I'd trust an american cop.

sad to say this. I don't enjoy feeling this way. but I'm realistic.

don't talk to cops, don't socialize with them, avoid them at all costs. they CAN kill you and they will make up any story they want to save their own asses.

bad scene. hope it gets fixed but I don't have any such false hopes.