Mike Peterson
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.
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.
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5 Comments
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.
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.
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.
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.