Apple Wallet: how it works for driving license and identity card

Time: 14/Feb By: kenglenn 334 Views

Apple has announced that Arizona and Georgia will be the first US states to implement the new Wallet function in iOS 15 that allows you to store, preserve and display a digital version of your driver's license and ID card with iPhone. Subsequently, Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma and Utah will also follow.

In announcing the first US states in which it will be possible to use the new authentication system, Apple reported that the process for adding identification documents is similar to the one for adding credit cards and passes for the transit. You open the Wallet app, tap the Add (+) button, and you can scan your actual ID card or driver's license. In the final verification it will be necessary to take a selfie which will be sent to the state that issued the document. Additional security steps are required to uniquely identify the face, prompting the user to move their head in various ways. At the end of the procedure, the document will also be available on the Apple Watch with watchOS 8.

When adding such a document to Wallet on an iOS device with Touch ID, only one finger can be associated in the enrollment process. This was reported by Apple to John Gruber of Daring Fireball, explaining that this ensures that only registered users and not others who have previously added their fingerprint by configuring touch ID on the iPhone, can present a document that is not theirs.

Apple Wallet: how it works for license and identity card

As always, Apple has provided a whole series of security mechanisms that take into account specific hardware and software technologies. For example, driving license and identity document are shown using encrypted communication mechanisms for communication with dedicated readers; furthermore, neither Apple nor the issuing State know when and where the document was presented.

Apple's system supports the e ISO 18013-5 mDL standard, for which Apple has actively collaborated in the development, and which establishes precise guidelines on the protection of consumer privacy when presenting an identity card or driving license driving via mobile device.