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A mobile driving licence (also mobile driver's license or mDL) is a mobile app that replaces a physical driver's license. An International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard for the mobile driving licence (ISO 18013-5) was approved on August 18, 2021 and published on 30 September 2021. [1]
The first instance of an electronic driver's license was deployed in Mexico as early as 2007, using the Gemalto smart-card platform. In 2016, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) partnered with Gemalto to pilot the "digital driver's license" in Washington D.C., Idaho, Colorado, Maryland and Wyoming. [2]
Colorado was the first state to deploy a production version of a digital license, primarily based on QR codes stored in a digital wallet, which it claims is accepted by police officers throughout the state. [3] After going through the standard process at the state Department of Motor Vehicles, volunteers installed the "DigiDL" app on their phones and then downloaded the license. Volunteers tested the digital driver's license in stores, the Colorado Lottery claim center, and an art fair. [4]
On 1 October 2019, Norway became the first country in Europe to introduce a digital driver's license. A holder of a Norwegian driver's license can request a digital version of their physical driver's license after downloading the app Førerkort from their preferred app marketplace. The applicant must verify their identity with BankID upon logging in on the app for the first time, which will then retrieve information from the national database for driving licenses. After this procedure, the digital driver's license will display the exact same information as on the physical driver's license. The app only allows one phone with a digital driver's license per user.
If the holder has recently passed their driving exam or upgraded to a new category, and hence awaiting to receive their physical driving license, the app will display a temporary driving permit. When the physical driver's license has been produced, the app is able to display the holder's digital driver's license, regardless if the holder has received their physical driving license by mail yet or not. If a holder's driver's license has been revoked or suspended, this will information will be displayed in the app as long as the holder has not gotten their driver's license back.
Upon a traffic stop by the police or coming in contact with the Public Roads Administration, the digital driver's license is valid as a proof of identification. Although the driver's license comes with a barcode, which can be scanned by either government authorities, commercial establishments or even private persons to verify the details, it is not considered as a proof of identification in most places. The digital driver's license is not valid outside of Norway. [5]
Iceland was the second country in Europe to introduce a digital/mobile driver's licence in July 2020. Icelandic driving licence holders can request a digital version of their licence online by using their electronic ID (Icelandic: rafræn skilríki) and is issued as a .pkpass file loaded into the Wallet app on iPhone or a third-party app on Android. Digital driving licences display the same information as a physical licence, along with a barcode (renewed regularly by the server, acting as verification). Commercial establishments (e.g. for proof of age) can use the island.is app to verify barcodes. The licences are equally valid as official ID, even for voting, however only within Iceland. The implementation does not conform to the ISO 18013-45 standard. [6] As of August 2022, 60% of driver's licences have been issued in digital/mobile form. [7]
In November 2020, Denmark publicly released a digital/mobile driving licence using a proprietary app implementation using a QR code, also not conforming to the ISO 18013-45 standard. Similar to Iceland's implementation, it is fully equivalent to physical IDs, however only valid in Denmark. [8]
The first mDL that claims compliance with ISO 18013-5 is Louisiana's, developed in part by Envoc, a software firm in Baton Rouge, whose president claimed that most drivers under 40 won't go back home if they forget their physical laminated license, "but if they forget their phone, they always turn around." [9] Ontario in 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, announced a "Digital Identity Program," including a mobile driver's license. [10]
Smartphone operating systems are adapting to the new standard. For example, Android's JetPack suite comes with specific support for ISO 18013–5 from version API 24. [11] [12] On September 1, 2021, Apple provided details about its implementation of the standard in iOS 15. Arizona and Georgia became the first two states to announce that IDs were supported. On March 23, 2022, Arizona officially launched their program which includes the first TSA checkpoint to support Apple’s mobile driver’s license, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. [13] [14]
Safety organization UL has a product to help test an app's conformance with the ISO 18013-5 standard. [15] The Kantara Initiative created a "Privacy & Identity Protection in Mobile Driving License Ecosystems Discussion Group" to issue a report on the need for conformance specifications around identity and privacy. [16]
A smart card (SC), chip card, or integrated circuit card, is a card used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) chip. Many smart cards include a pattern of metal contacts to electrically connect to the internal chip. Others are contactless, and some are both. Smart cards can provide personal identification, authentication, data storage, and application processing. Applications include identification, financial, public transit, computer security, schools, and healthcare. Smart cards may provide strong security authentication for single sign-on (SSO) within organizations. Numerous nations have deployed smart cards throughout their populations.
A smartphone, often simply called a phone, is a mobile device that combines the functionality of a traditional mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multimedia playback and streaming. Smartphones have built-in cameras, GPS navigation, and support for various communication methods, including voice calls, text messaging, and internet-based messaging apps.
Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 centimetres (1.6 in) or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be used for the bootstrapping of capable wireless connections. Like other proximity card technologies, NFC is based on inductive coupling between two electromagnetic coils present on a NFC-enabled device such as a smartphone. NFC communicating in one or both directions uses a frequency of 13.56 MHz in the globally available unlicensed radio frequency ISM band, compliant with the ISO/IEC 18000-3 air interface standard at data rates ranging from 106 to 848 kbit/s.
An electronic identification ("eID") is a digital solution for proof of identity of citizens or organizations. They can be used to view to access benefits or services provided by government authorities, banks or other companies, for mobile payments, etc. Apart from online authentication and login, many electronic identity services also give users the option to sign electronic documents with a digital signature.
An International Driving Permit (IDP), often referred to as an international driving license, is a translation of a domestic driving license that allows the holder to drive a private motor vehicle in any country or jurisdiction that recognises the document. The term International Driving Permit was first mentioned in the document prescribed in the International Convention relative to Motor Traffic that was signed at Paris in 1926, and is a translation of the French 'permis de conduire international', or 'international driving license'. The Paris treaty, and all subsequent, use the word 'permit' exclusively in relation to all kinds of driving license.
Gemalto was an international digital security company providing software applications, secure personal devices such as smart cards and tokens, e-wallets and managed services. It was formed in June 2006 by the merger of two companies, Axalto and Gemplus International. Gemalto N.V.'s revenue in 2018 was €2.969 billion.
A digital wallet, also known as an e-wallet or mobile wallet, is an electronic device, online service, or software program that allows one party to make electronic transactions with another party bartering digital currency units for goods and services. This can include purchasing items either online or at the point of sale in a brick and mortar store, using either mobile payment or using a laptop or other personal computer. Money can be deposited in the digital wallet prior to any transactions or, in other cases, an individual's bank account can be linked to the digital wallet. Users might also have their driver's license, health card, loyalty card(s) and other ID documents stored within the wallet. The credentials can be passed to a merchant's terminal wirelessly via near field communication (NFC).
Google Pay Send, previously known as Google Wallet, was a peer-to-peer payments service developed by Google before its merger into Google Pay. It allowed people to send and receive money from a mobile device or desktop computer.
The European driving licence is a driving licence issued by the member states of the European Economic Area (EEA); all 27 EU member states and three EFTA member states; Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, which give shared features the various driving licence styles formerly in use. It is credit card-style with a photograph. They were introduced to replace the 110 different plastic and paper driving licences of the 300 million drivers in the EEA. The main objective of the licence is to reduce the risk of fraud.
In the United States, driver's licenses are issued by each individual state, territory, and the District of Columbia rather than by the federal government due to federalism. Drivers are normally required to obtain a license from their state of residence. All states of the United States and provinces and territories of Canada recognize each other's licenses for non-resident age requirements. There are also licenses for motorcycle use. Generally, a minimum age of 15 is required to apply for a non-commercial driver license, and 25 for commercial licenses which drivers must have to operate vehicles that are too heavy for a non-commercial licensed driver or vehicles with at least 16 passengers or containing hazardous materials that require placards. A state may also suspend an individual's driving privilege within its borders for traffic violations. Many states share a common system of license classes, with some exceptions, e.g. commercial license classes are standardized by federal regulation at 49 CFR 383. Many driving permits and ID cards display small digits next to each data field. This is required by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators' design standard and has been adopted by many US states. According to the United States Department of Transportation, as of 2018, there are approximately 227 million licensed drivers in the United States, making driver's licenses the primary method of identification in the United States.
JVL Ventures, LLC d/b/a Softcard, was a joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon which produced a mobile payments platform known as Softcard, which used near-field communication (NFC) technology to allow users to pay for items at stores and restaurants with credit and debit card credentials stored on their smartphones. The partnership was first announced on November 16, 2010; following a trial period in 2012, the service officially launched nationwide on November 14, 2013. The official Softcard app was available for NFC-compatible smartphones using the Android operating system and later on Windows Phone 8.1.
Apple Wallet is a digital wallet developed by Apple Inc. and included with iOS and watchOS that allows users to store Wallet passes such as coupons, boarding passes, student ID cards, government ID cards, business credentials, resort passes, car keys, home keys, event tickets, public transportation passes, store cards, and – starting with iOS 8.1 – credit cards, and debit cards for use via Apple Pay.
A driver's license, driving licence, or driving permit is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public road. Such licenses are often plastic and the size of a credit card.
An Icelandic driving licence is a permit issued by the Icelandic Transport Authority authorizing its holder to operate a motorized vehicle. The design conforms to the European driving licence style, and is valid in all countries in the European Economic Area, as well as many others outside Europe. In Iceland the driving age is 17, and 16 is the minimum age to obtain a learner's permit. They are issued in physical form, with an optional digital version also being issued for smartphones. In 2022, 91% of Icelanders had a driving licence.
Decentralized Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing is an open protocol developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate digital contact tracing of infected participants. The protocol, like competing protocol Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT), uses Bluetooth Low Energy to track and log encounters with other users. The protocols differ in their reporting mechanism, with PEPP-PT requiring clients to upload contact logs to a central reporting server, whereas with DP-3T, the central reporting server never has access to contact logs nor is it responsible for processing and informing clients of contact. Because contact logs are never transmitted to third parties, it has major privacy benefits over the PEPP-PT approach; however, this comes at the cost of requiring more computing power on the client side to process infection reports.
Google Wallet is a digital wallet platform developed by Google. It is available for the Android, Wear OS, and Fitbit OS operating systems, and was announced on May 11, 2022, at the 2022 Google I/O keynote. It began rolling out on Android smartphones on July 18, 2022.
Samsung Wallet is a digital wallet platform developed by Samsung. It is available for the Samsung Galaxy-exclusive One UI Android operating system, and was announced on February 9, 2022, at the February 2022 Samsung Unpacked event. It combines both Samsung Pay and Samsung Pass.
The Icelandic identity card, is a voluntary identity document issued by Registers Iceland since 12 April 1965. It is one of three official identity documents issued by the Icelandic Government, along with the Icelandic passport and Icelandic driving licence. It is only issued to Icelandic citizens regardless of age and may indicate citizenship, so that it can be used as a travel document facilitating freedom of movement within the European Free Trade Association and the rest of the European Economic Area. For travel within the Nordic countries no identity documentation is legally required for Nordic citizens due to the Nordic Passport Union.