Some California residents will be able to add their driver's licenses and state IDs to Apple Wallet soon. Apple announced on Thursday.
Apple's announcement doesn't say when mobile driver's licenses will be rolled out, only that it will happen “this fall” as part of California Mobile Driver License (mDL) Pilot ProgramThe pilot, which will be limited to 1.5 million participants, will allow users traveling through certain terminals at Los Angeles and San Francisco international airports to go through TSA screening without having to hand over their driver's licenses or phones.
To enroll, users must scan their driver's license or ID and then scan a photo of their face. People who participate in the pilot program will be able to use mobile IDs to purchase certain age-restricted items at select retail stores in Sacramento and to go through some airport security checkpoints.
Apple Wallet IDs are also available in Arizona, Maryland, Colorado, Georgia and Ohio. New York launched its own mobile ID app in June, which can also be used to verify identity at airports. Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri also have their own mobile ID programs.
State-run mobile ID apps have raised security concerns. In January, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Surveillance Resistance Lab asked The New York DMV will suspend its upcoming mobile ID pilot program. In a letter to DMV Commissioner Mark Schroeder, the organizations said mobile driver’s licenses could be used as a pretext for police to confiscate phones during routine stops or to prevent people from filming interactions with police. The letter also mentioned the possibility that users’ information could be recorded and tracked by third parties.
Apple says that ID documents stored in Apple Wallet are not accessible to third parties, including Apple. According to Apple's press release, driver's license information added to Apple Wallet is only stored on the user's device and cannot be accessed “unless the user chooses to present it.” Apple and the state authority that issues the document (e.g., the department of motor vehicles) don't know “when, where, or with whom a user presents their driver's license or state ID,” the announcement says.