Driver's license support in Wallet app delayed until 'early 2022'

Posted:
in General Discussion
Apple has delayed the rollout of a new feature that would let users add their driver's licenses or IDs to the Wallet app on iPhones until early 2022.

Credit: Apple
Credit: Apple


The feature, first unveiled at WWDC '21, was initially slated to debut in a handful of states in late 2021. The first batch of states included Arizona, Georgia, Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah.

However, the company recently updated its iOS 15 webpage to indicate that the feature would arrive in early 2022.

MacRumors first spotted the page update Tuesday. The site also notes that the feature is not present in the latest iOS 15.2 beta.

At launch, the feature appears aimed at identity verification at TSA airport checkpoints. Users will be able to authenticate their identity by tapping on a terminal, which will negate the need to hand over a physical card or device.

There appear to be plans to broaden the scope of the feature, however. Earlier in November, CNBC obtained agreements between Apple and state governments, as well as other documents, that suggested the feature could be used for age verification at bars, as well as identity checks during traffic stops.

Those documents also indicated that Apple maintains tight control over the feature, and has left the responsibility of funding the rollout to state governments.

In addition to the initial batch of supported states, Apple is also reportedly working with other state governments -- like Florida's -- to introduce support for the feature.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    My state has their own app for this, accepted by law enforcement and all states alcohol outlets. The only problem is it doesn't use the iOS Wallet so you have to unlock the device and hold it out for the LEO to take a photo/scan of it on their own device (they are trained that it's a "hands off" policy and aren't supposed to ask for possession of it, which was true in the one time I got to try it when pulled over, but who knows how good about it they are). So I welcome one that uses the Wallet which can be accessed while the device remains locked.
    williamlondonravnorodom
  • Reply 2 of 5
    I’m skeptical — of the ISO 18013-5 standard itself, not Apple’s implementation thereof. I think Apple is doing its best to play a bad hand that the government dealt.

    I also suspect it’s going to take a very, very long time for anyone to be able to reliably leave their physical ID at home and roll totally digitally.

    Why?  Digital ID is going to have to operate alongside physical ID for a long time in a “blended environment” … but ISO 18013-5 proposes validators (e.g., a bouncer, hotel desk receptionist, police officer) “accept” digital ID in a cool, but very unique way compared to how they accept physical ID, which can be done with a quick barcode scan.

    For example, imagine you’re a nightclub bouncer checking IDs.  There are 100+ people in line …

    Most quickly hand you their ID, you inspect (or, varsity, scan the barcode with an app) and, in a matter of 1-2 seconds, you’re onto the next person.

    Then, someone with an ISO 18013-5 digital ID flashes their phone at you … you can’t just inspect it or scan its barcode (standard doesn’t have one), so now you’re pulling out some special validation app, jacking around with this bespoke use case for 10-15 seconds.

    So, the ISO by itself is cool and does neat stuff with data sharing, etc., , but it totally sucks when put into a real world scenario with old-school IDs, which is what most people will have.

    My guess is a lot of places will just say, “Nah, we’re a private institution and we chose not to accept those, let me see your physical ID”, which then kills adoption.

    The ISO creators engineered a solution to a problem, we’ll see if it was the full problem.
    edited November 2021 roundaboutnow
  • Reply 3 of 5

    Then, someone with an ISO 18013-5 digital ID flashes their phone at you … you can’t just inspect it or scan its barcode (standard doesn’t have one), so now you’re pulling out some special validation app, jacking around with this bespoke use case for 10-15 seconds.
    Are you sure about that being the way it works? I was under the impression that, similar to the way Apple Pay works, one would only have to present the phone to a reader and the necessary info would be transmitted. I could very well be wrong, though. (I know I’m simplifying it a little by cutting out some steps required by the phone holder/ID presenter)

    If that’s the case it would likely save time and offer some protection to business trying to keep underage people out. 
  • Reply 4 of 5
    My state has their own app for this, accepted by law enforcement and all states alcohol outlets. The only problem is it doesn't use the iOS Wallet so you have to unlock the device and hold it out for the LEO to take a photo/scan of it on their own device (they are trained that it's a "hands off" policy and aren't supposed to ask for possession of it, which was true in the one time I got to try it when pulled over, but who knows how good about it they are). So I welcome one that uses the Wallet which can be accessed while the device remains locked.
    This is what I'm skeptical of.  I mean, cops already do lots of things they're not supposed to do.  I myself have been stopped merely because I was passing through a neighborhood the cop didn't think I belonged in, and on another occasion because I had out of state plates.  In addition, cops are permitted to lie, so what's to stop a cop from saying that one is required to give him one's phone?  Then when some poor schlub does so, the cop can say "he let me."

    And, as another story about the various unlocking tools points out, even a locked phone isn't necessarily safe.
    williamlondon
  • Reply 5 of 5
    I could very well be wrong, though. (I know I’m simplifying it a little by cutting out some steps required by the phone holder/ID presenter)
    Those steps are my point, though :smile: someone having to do any steps to validate a Digital ID that are different from those needed to validate a Physical ID is what will encumber the validator, which will hurt adoption, and what I’m concerned the ISO creators didn’t fully appreciate (remember: those people we’re UX experts and product managers…).

    All I know for certain is that any sort of ApplePay-like experience requires the “receiving” device to be emitting an NFC challenge, which I’ve yet to see an iPhone do — this would be like iPhone to iPhone tap ApplePay, which would be awesome … but isn’t a thing (yet?).
    edited November 2021 williamlondon
Sign In or Register to comment.