California has considerably expanded a pilot program permitting residents to get a digital driver’s license / identification card that’s accessible on their cell phones (via 9to5Mac). The digital ID, which the California DMV is looking an “mDL” (cellular driver’s license), can be utilized for issues like getting by way of airport safety or proving your age when shopping for alcohol.
If you happen to select to enroll in the state’s digital IDs, there’s a couple of caveats to pay attention to. The DMV stresses that you just’ll nonetheless want to hold your bodily ID or driver’s license on condition that “legislation enforcement, state authorities companies, and companies aren’t but accepting the mDL.” Just some airports and a handful of retail locations help them. The DMV promises that the app “doesn’t completely retailer your private knowledge,” however it does maintain your cellphone quantity and an “encrypted picture of your DL/ID card.”
And California isn’t letting residents add a digital ID to iOS or Android’s native wallets; as an alternative, it’s important to use California’s devoted app. “Presently mDL isn’t out there for Apple or Google wallets,” the DMV says. “Nonetheless, further platforms will likely be out there sooner or later.”