Will Your Next Driver’s License Be Digital?

Your current driver’s license is a plastic card. Every previous license was a plastic card. So far as you know, your driver’s licenses will always be plastic cards that you’ll carry in your wallet or purse. They couldn’t take any other form, could they?

This is about to change. Some states are planning to digitize your driver identity so you can display it on a mobile tablet or phone. The new licenses will feature biometric data absent from your current license, such as fingerprints, iris scans, and facial recognition. Iowa will lead the way, issuing digital driver’s licenses in 2019. Delaware, Virginia, and Wyoming are conducting limited pilot studies of  digital license technology. Other states have also begin to study the matter.

How will the changes affect you?

Idemia, a company seeking new functions for augmented reality, developed Iowa’s digital license program. Its CEO says the new licenses will be “dynamically connected”. This means they will update driver information in real time, so if your license is suspended or you just reached your 21st birthday, your digital license will be updated to display the information.

If your device is stolen, the thief can’t open your license. Unlocking it requires your biometric data. At the very least, it will require PIN or fingerprint authentication. Without your PIN or biometric data, the thief will never get your personal information.

Your digital license data will be synced with your state’s DMV database. If a cop pulls you over, he can send a message to your phone simply by scanning your license plate. Your response confirms your identity. The signals “shake hands”. The cop can relax when he approaches your car, because he knows who you are. You in turn can be sure he’s not an imposter, because only a real cop could send a signal to your device.

When will you get your first digital driver’s license?

It will be several years, at least, before most states issue digital driver’s licenses. One great hurdle is lack of interoperability, or coordination between state DMV databases. Police in one state will need access to DMV data from another state.

Expect a national interoperability standard to be settled by the middle of the next decade. After this, your driver’s license will exist in cyberspace.

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