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Louisiana Adopts Digital Driver's Licenses (ieee.org)
Louisiana is rolling out a new digital driver's license app, called LA Wallet, that will let retailers digitally verify the age of their customers, if required. "According to IEEE Spectrum, Louisiana's Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control is expected to announce that bars, restaurants, grocery stores and other retails are allowed to accept LA Wallet as proof of age, according to the app's developer, Envoc." From the report: The Baton Rouge-based company launched LA Wallet in June, after two years of collaboration with state officials. But so far only law enforcement officers making routine traffic stops are required to accept the digital driver's license. Next week's announcement would greatly broaden the scope of the app's use. About 71,000 people have downloaded LA Wallet so far, says Calvin Fabre, founder and president of Envoc. The app costs $5.99 in the Google Play and Apple App stores. Users buy it, create an account with some basic information from their physical driver's license, and create a password. That's it. No biometric security -- like iris scans or facial recognition -- required. The app links back to Louisiana's Office of Motor Vehicles database, which completes the digital license with the user's photo and additional information. Any changes to the license, like a suspension or renewal, are updated immediately in the app with a wireless network connection.
To present the license -- say, to a cop during a traffic stop -- the driver (hoping his phone battery isn't dead) opens the app with a password, shows the cop the digital license image, and authenticates it by pressing and holding the screen to reveal a security seal. The license can be flipped over to show a scannable bar code on the back. There's also a handy security feature that allows anyone with the LA Wallet app to authenticate another person's Louisiana digital driver's license. It allows the bar patron to select which information she would like to reveal to the bartender -- in this case, simply the fact that she is over 21. That information is displayed on the phone with a photo and embedded QR code. The bartender scans the code with her app, which tells her that the woman seated on the other side of the bar is indeed over 21. None of the customer's personal information, such as her name, birth date, or address, is displayed or stored on the bartender's phone.
To present the license -- say, to a cop during a traffic stop -- the driver (hoping his phone battery isn't dead) opens the app with a password, shows the cop the digital license image, and authenticates it by pressing and holding the screen to reveal a security seal. The license can be flipped over to show a scannable bar code on the back. There's also a handy security feature that allows anyone with the LA Wallet app to authenticate another person's Louisiana digital driver's license. It allows the bar patron to select which information she would like to reveal to the bartender -- in this case, simply the fact that she is over 21. That information is displayed on the phone with a photo and embedded QR code. The bartender scans the code with her app, which tells her that the woman seated on the other side of the bar is indeed over 21. None of the customer's personal information, such as her name, birth date, or address, is displayed or stored on the bartender's phone.
Here's my unlocked phone, officer.
How very French of them.
Tracks you, tracks your purchases for gov, and provides "unlockable" phones for cops when pulled over.
How about a big fat NO FUCKING THANKS
Good times.
In NY State I no longer need to "prove 12 points of my identity". The DMV Clerks check my pic to, "Yup, that's him." Been that way for a few years now.
The LA WALLET Application... Privacy Policy describes what personal data we obtain through the Application and how we use, store and share that information... note that ENVOC may change the terms of its Privacy Policy at any time without prior notice to you
Or you could just hand them a plastic id like you currently have.
Au contraire, mon frere. This is digital! It's better. Everything is better when it's digital.
Just like the recent article where businesses are no longer accepting cash, and someone said a person could always go down the block and turn their ready cash into a plastic card, it makes no sense to simply turn over something you already have. Nowadays you have to go digital. Digital is where it's at.
Think about it. Now you get to whip out your phone, unlock it (hoping you did it right the first time), find the app, wait for it to load, most likely sign into the app or in some other method identify yourself, then, and ONLY then, can you produce your identification. Now compare that to handing over a card: pull out your wallet, find the card, present the card.
Clearly digital is the way to go. Why? Because it's digital!
How is this better than a physical document? This looks more like an attempt at showing off how cutting edge they are.
Our K-12 schools are shite but we issue digital driver's license.
Last thing I want is my only form of ID to be in my phone. What happens during a traffic stop usually? Cop takes your licence/id back to their car to write up your ticket and or look for other things like warrants. What are they going to do in this case, take your phone with them. No way I want a cop having unattended access to my phone.
It prevents bars from using mandatory ID checks to build databases of customers... which most "bar code verifier" stations do when bouncers check ID. That level of access control is an objectively good thing.
There are many other problems (for instance, this app probably uses that to record how many times you go to bars, and syncs your phone to real name in a way that is sold to FB) that are added. But, you know, one step forward, four steps back.
Your ad here. Ask me how!
Have gnu, will travel.
This is really absurdly complicated. This is like a Rube Goldberg version of an ID. Who would waste time with something this stupid? As others have said, this takes a non-problem, and makes a very complicated, expensive, time-consuming problem out of it.
I don't respond to AC's.
A digital driver's license on your phone? What could possibly go wrong?*
Thank goodness phones are never hacked, infected, spoofed, or fall prey to malware.
I predict we'll see another story about this within the next year or two about how some poor schmuck had his 'secure' digital driver's license hacked or deleted or altered or revoked, and got arrested and taken to jail or whatever because of it.
----
* I feel like I'm saying "What could possibly go wrong" a lot these days, but damn if I'm not proved right nearly every time I do.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
So strictly enforce drunk driving laws for new drivers: 0.01% BAC = license loss till 21. Or just require self-driving cars.
When I was curious about how to let someone else make a call on my phone without giving them access to my address book, the suggestion I found was that I make a separate user profile for guest use and have a password needed to switch back to my main one. Since multiple user profiles are possible, it wouldn't be that hard to make one called "ID" in addition to the guest one for letting a stranger make a call. Then the account with the ID doesn't share any of my other data, but I don't share my ID info with everyone who brings up my lock screen.
Once you willingly unlock your phone for the officer. he can legally search it if he feels it is necessary. No thank you, I will stick with the card.