GSN Digital Edition April 2016

for virtually everything else, ranging
from boarding an airplane to
buying products. Why not for carrying
IDs on smartphones?
A mobile driver license will simplify
people’s lives, empower people
with more applications and better
control of their privacy, and increase
the level of trust to use a person’s
digital identity. The benefits also extend
to DMVs, which will be able to
improve citizens’ experience as well
as generate new revenues. People
will not have to go stand in line at
DMVs anymore to renew a driver
license or make an address change.
Policymakers are increasingly interested
in seeing the results of “pilot
programs” to demonstrate the
viability of a jurisdiction offering a
mobile driver license. At the same
time, HID Global is addressing the
concerns and objections of decision-makers,
who either are happy
with the way driver licenses currently
work or are suspicious of the
mobile driver license. People are
asking good questions about mobile
IDs, and HID Global is here to answer
those questions. The following
are three examples of concerns or
objections to mobile driver licenses.
• Mobile driver license can be
faked more easily than a physical
driver license. The truth is just
the opposite, however. It is easier
to fake a physical driver’s license
than a mobile driver license. With
mobile, electronic authentication
using cryptography is possible,
which will prevent counterfeiting
or fake IDs.
• A mobile phone battery can
die and make the mobile driver
license useless. The beauty of a
mobile driver license is that it can
be available online, with the permission
of the citizen. A government
official, such as a police officer,
will be able to access people’s
identity, even if the citizen’s phone
battery is drained.
• Deploying a mobile driver license
is too complex. Because the
existing processes and infrastructure
to create a physical driver
license will be used by a DMV,
there is actually not that much
more that needs to be done to enable
a DMV to start issuing mobile
driver license except to work
with a trusted partner who can
securely provision the credential
over-the-air into a citizen’s smartphone.
The best approach is for a
DMV to launch a pilot program
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to test out the concept of a mobile
driver license.
Mobile driver licenses will be an
option for citizens who desire their
convenience and are not meant to
replace physical driver licenses. For
the foreseeable future, physical driver
licenses will co-exist with mobile
driver licenses. Co-existence will
give government bodies more time
to work out all the details and learn
from the rollout.
Once one or two states start offering
mobile driver licenses to its
citizens, there will be a ripple effect.
The shift will be quick across many
other states. This will unleash the
unrealized demand among citizens
for mobile IDs.
HID Global makes it possible for
governments to reach a new standard
in their relationship with citizens
– whether the interaction is
with law enforcement, motor vehicle
agencies, educational institutions,
or quasi-governmental organizations.
The world of citizen IDs
is on the verge of a massive shift.
HID Global will be there every step
of the way.