Apple is moving us to a world in which we no longer have to carry a wallet or keys with us everywhere we go and I am all for it. My iPhone already replaced my iPod, Palm PDA and cell phone (and yes, I was carrying around all three of those at one point). To also not have to carry around my wallet would be awesome, and for the most part, the only thing I have to bring my wallet for nowadays is my driver’s license.
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FYI: Mobile Driver’s Licenses and
the Costs To Privacy, Safety,
and Security. https://www.nilc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Mobile-Drivers-Licenses-and-the-Costs-to-Privacy-Safety-Security-2023.pdf
I take over a dozen prescriptions. Fortunately none are controlled substances and I do not show any ID for them in NY as I said above. Controlled substances are recorded as required by law, which I do not consider a problem nor a security risk whether traditional ID or electronic ID is used.
25 posts were merged into an existing topic: Stores that still don’t accept Apple Pay
FWIW, I have non-compliant license from Minnesota. It has the Start Pattern and the Stop Pattern, but the patterns in the Left Row Indicator and the Right Row Indicator do not match the example that @Shamino posted. (And it appears to have 17 rows and 16 Data Codewords between what would be the Left and Right indicators, with a black bar rather than a white bar to delimit codewords. My tired old eyes might have miscounted.)
Sounds like it is also PDF417. Which makes perfect sense. Why implement two standards when one will do the job.
I wouldn’t expect your license to exactly match the example I shared. That’s just a sample intended to show what it looks like. But the standard supports different sizes in order to accommodate different amounts of data - just like QR does.
According to the Wikipedia article:
- There are between 3 and 90 rows of symbols. My Virginia license has 21 rows.
- “quiet zone” whitespace surrounding the code
- Well defined start- and stop-patterns at the ends
- The “row left” codeword contains row-specific data (e.g. the row number and error correction level)
- Between 1 and 30 data codewords. My Virginia license has 17 data codewords on each row.
- The “row right” codeword has more metadata about the row.
It appears (from my own license as well as the Wikipedia example) that each codeword (including the row indicators) always begin with a black box and end with a white box. So when you see them all stacked, you should see both a white and a black vertical line between the columns of codewords. Which you notice when you’re looking at it is, of course, a matter of perception.
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My 22 year old daughter lost her DL/wallet at the Grand Canyon. They found it but not able to get it to her in time before flying back out of Las Vegas. She has a copy of her license on the LA Wallet app. Lousiana states it is valid just like regular license and we found an article about TSA accepting it as of a few months before traveling.
The airport (LAS) didn’t have a special reader or some sort of equipment(?) to confirm her identity (our vouching wasn’t sufficient even though our physical ID’s had same address). We had some correspondence with her name and address that matched (a birthday card from her grandmother) that made TSA able to “verify” the digital ID and get her on her way (extra 20min delay and supervisor involvement though).
We definitely agree with your conclusion: “Sadly, it seems as though it will take years before digital and physical IDs can be used interchangeably”. I’m hoping it may have made things perhaps a little easier though?
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This got me to look at my state, one of the first to offer it. “The Mobile ID serves as a companion to a physical driver’s license or ID. You should always carry their physical driver’s license or ID.”
I’ve not read the many many comments here but, I wonder if this is not a law but, just something they want us to do until all the cops understand it is just as good? On mine, it just shows the state and my first name and last name initial. I have to hit the “i” button and then face ID knows it is me and then the exact same info as on the card comes up, including my ugly photo before I lost 50lbs.
Presumably, this is what the cop sees when he does whatever it is he does with a digital ID? I’ve not been pulled over in a decade and not ticketed for over 30 years…
I also have an image of my licence in my secure photo folder too. Often the card itself is needed for other stuff, which is bad and a security risk but, unavoidable sometimes.
You do not need an ID in the USA. To operate a motor vehicle, you need a license from your state. However, if a police officer stops you and asks for your name, you do have to give it. If they ask for an ID (license) and you have one, you have to give it. If you do not actually have one, you just say, I do not have one (rare and immediately raises red flags with the cop except in cities with mass transit). If they ask you more questions, you do not have to answer them. However, if you hide criminal activity by not answering, you can be in trouble. The cops are very good at intimidating people into thinking they have to talk then and there. But, mostly, you can give your name and license and then act deaf if you have done nothing wrong. But, again, most cops see this as not using your brain to protect your rights but, as a red flag. If they put you in cuffs, you can ask if you are being arrested. If yes, shut up! If they say no, they are detaining you, shut up! But know, they cannot detain you for long (and usually do not).
But the reality is, to do a lot of things, you need either a drivers license or a state issued ID. Many states issue one or the other to anyone who asks. For a drivers license, you have to pass an on screen test (what sign is this? etc.) and a driving test. For an ID, I dunno. Maybe proof you live in the state with bank account, utility bills, etc. In the non racist states, they do not care where you come from or your status but simply want you to drive safely and have a photo ID as needed for work, etc. The policing of illegal emigrants is the job of the feds, not the states. But all humans in the USA are provided basic protection and rights under the constitution.
US citizens are often mistaken by state or city cops as illegal emigrants but, that would be illegal policing activity. There is some variation to all above depending if you are standing in one state or another or on federal land (National Mall in DC, a national park, federal building, tribal lands, etc.).
The Ohio sample here is same as my state. Just different image decoration.
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In most states, it’s clearly the law as in a shall, not a would be nice. You’re always welcome to test your luck though. Officers have discretion.
In CA, failing to present a driver’s license is an infraction under California Vehicle Code Section 12951 VC that is punishable by a $250 maximum court fine (not including additional penalty assessments).
I know of one sheriff’s deputy in AZ that will 100% write you up for showing only a photo or digital copy of a license because like CA, AZ requires you to present the physical card when you get pulled over. And that capped at $250 fine is of course only if you just can’t show it but they are otherwise able to verify that you have a valid DL. If OTOH it’s been suspended or revoked (or you’ve never been issues one), you’re looking at potentially much more serious penalties (including criminal citation with mandatory court appearance etc.).
I prefer to spend my money on nice things, but perhaps you’ll get lucky. Or perhaps you consider $250 a small price to pay for not having to carry a 1/8-oz piece of plastic around. Assuming you ever get pulled over of course. I don’t know where you live, but here in Berkeley, CA I have no idea what it takes for somebody to actually get pulled over these days.
Correct. However…there are so many things that you need an ID for…cash a check, pick up welfare benefits, buy age restricted products, vote in a lot of places, get a library card, etc…that the reality is that pretty much everyone has one. Even illegal immigrants can get a state id in many to most states although I haven’t checked on the exact number that do.
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I feel so old fashioned. I always carry my physical driver’s license and typically between $100 and $200 in cash. Power outages and other unforeseen events happen.
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Most medical providers require an ID from the state as well as the insurance card. In Ohio, a state ID/drivers license or equivalent ID is required for voting:
You don’t need to have one on your person when you go out in public.
But as others have pointed out, lots of things people have to do require an ID of some kind. But if you don’t have a driver’s license (maybe because you don’t drive), many other forms are usually acceptable.
- Most (all?) state DMVs will issue non-driver ID cards.
- A passport or passport card should be acceptable anywhere a DMV-issued ID is accepted.
- A military ID is usually also considered acceptable.
It’s important to clarify that this applies only if an officer stops you when you are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle and asks to see your license. It is not illegal to not present an ID when asked if you are not engaged in, or about to be engaged in, an activity which can be done lawfully only if you have the required license.
Officers may be disgruntled by failure of passengers or pedestrians to provide ID when requested, but you are not breaking any laws by doing so if you’re not driving. You still may be subject to arrest, of course; that’s at officer’s discretion, and if they want to arrest you, they’ll find a pretext. Rectifying that requires at minimum a court hearing.
In case you’re curious about what the bar code on your license contains, there are many bar code readers that can decode PDF417. I downloaded one (Free with in-app subscriptions for advanced features) called QR Reader for iPhone.
It scans my license’s bar-code and lets me export/share the resulting block of text. The text (along with lots of other information about how driver licenses and ID cards are supposed to be designed) is part of the AAMVA (American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators) DL/ID Card Design Standard (2020). Older versions of the standard are no longer linked from the AAMVA web site, but the Wayback machine has links to the standards from 2000 through 2016.
The bar code specification is Annex D, starting on page 46 of the 2020 standard. Section D.12 (starting on page 52) describes the data elements, so you can make sense of the text that is encoded in the bar code.
I found that my license has a few fields not documented in the 2020 standard. I found them last documented in the 2005 standard, and removed from the 2009 standard. Which is interesting because my license was issued in 2018. It obviously takes Virginia (and I assume many other states) quite a long time to integrate newer versions of these standards. Or maybe they only adopt changes when required by law (AAMVA is not a government agency).
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Unless you are not a citizen - ie a Green Card Holder / LPR, tourist etc.
I assume the same for Visa holders but I was not one.
Couple of questions about this.
First…what good does it do…I thought I read someplace that the cops could still ask you for the physical license. I guess the bar might accept it if they card you…but if it’s not good enough for the cops I’m not sure it has much utility.
Second…do you have to unlock your phone to show it to the cop…seems really unwise to unlock your phone and hand it to the cop from a privacy standpoint. I suppose ypu could enable the FaceID required for pls…but having to do that for every app is tedious.
In CA the only good it really does right now is at SFO, SJC, and LAX where TSA checkpoints will allow this vs. a physical DL. The irony is the way it’s been implemented, it takes longer than if the TSA officer just swipes your physical DL. There’s also a few stores that will accept it to check for age (lottery tickets, liquor).
If you drive a motor vehicle on a public roadway, the state of CA still always requires a physical DL.
And one note about mDL. The idea is never to hand over your device to anyone. That’s exactly the point. What you do is you tap your phone against a NFC reader and then iOS tells you what information will be transmitted. You double-tap the side button to agree (as you would for Apple Pay) and then FaceID authenticates. Your iPhone then transmits the information you just authorized to the other party wirelessly. You never hand over your phone to anybody. You certainly never unlock your iPhone and then hand it over to somebody. The whole point of mDL is that you release only select pieces of information over the air.
That all said, no cop in CA has been issues a reader/software that would allow for such wireless information transfer and hence they will always require a physical license. If you fail to provide it to them when you get pulled over, you have just violated CVC § 12500 and you can be fined to the tune of $250 or up to $1000 and 6 months in jail (misdemeanor or infraction at prosecutor’s discretion).
Apple explains it here:
https://learn.wallet.apple/id
They also have a nice little video that shows exactly how it works:
https://learn.wallet.apple/api/storage/videos/668848904091a400073be857/en-US-large.mp4