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Sneak Peek: Mobile Driver’s Licenses

The world of secure identification is all a-buzz right now with the emergence of mobile IDs. To those who are new to this concept, we’re talking about IDs on a smartphone.

Citizen privacy and protection of law enforcement is a real concern in countries around the world right now.  That’s why mobile IDs — in particular, mobile driver’s licenses — are providing citizens with a whole new level of convenience while protecting law enforcement and other first responders. 

A high level of secure interaction and verification would not be possible if we didn’t adhere to six all-important guiding principles. As an industry, we are venturing into new territory.  While the opportunities are great, we need to address potential challenges head-on. 

In order for the transition from physical ID cards to mobile IDs to be successful, we believe the industry must adhere to the following six principles:

  1. Voluntary
    • Participation is voluntary; the citizen controls his/her device and the information shared
  2. Interoperable
    • Works with major smartphone handset manufacturers and operating systems
    • Viable across jurisdictions, states, provinces and continents
  3. Secure
    • Strong standards-based cryptography platform
    • Citizens’ data can only be viewed by the smartphone of the officer, agent or authority that is authenticating it
  4. Private
    • No one else can access the owner’s personal data or track his/her identity
    • An authorized official must be able to verify data without having the citizen hand over the smartphone
  5. Remote-Capable
    • Citizens’ mobile IDs must be securely available, even in remote areas without internet or telecommunications networks. This includes the provisioning, updating or revoking of credentials.
  6. Readily Available
    • When a citizen’s smartphone is inoperable (i.e. dead battery) it is still possible to securely access the ID

In the weeks ahead, we will share more information about several of these principles and how mobile driver’s licenses can provide a faster and safer experience for both citizens and government agents.

In the meantime, I invite you to watch the above video demonstration of how a law enforcement officer can validate a citizen’s mobile driver’s license from a safe distance.