CHARLOTTE — Your phone already carries credit cards, airline boarding passes, and more -- why not your driver license?
North Carolina is beginning the process to implement mobile driver licenses, joining a dozen other states using or studying them. They could be available as soon as next year.
The Division of Motor Vehicles argues they’ll be even more secure than physical ID cards, but critics say it could open up privacy concerns.
As more people rely on their digital identity, mobile driver licenses are a necessary next step in North Carolina’s modernization. DMV Commissioner Wayne Goodwin says it’s necessary, but not mandatory.
Goodwin says a mobile driver license, or MDL, would be a supplement to your physical ID, not a replacement.
“It’ll be a great step toward protecting personal identity and information, and give people more flexibility to prove they are who they say they are,” Goodwin said.
The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators says the licenses can be adjusted to keep more information private.
“MDL can be updated in real time and allows the holder to share minimum information needed for the transaction,” the association said in a video.
For example, you can prove to a bartender that you’re 21 without exposing your name or where you live.
What data is on a mobile driver license?
“We hear all the time about our data being stolen,” said UNC Charlotte Professor Dr. Cari Faklaris. “Hackers are a concern, they need robust cyber safeguards.”
Faklaris does have concerns about mobile IDs, like whether they can track your movements and how interactions with police will work, like at a traffic stop.
“I also feel strongly people should not be forced to show their phones to authorities. If you’re a US citizen and not doing anything subject to a warrant, that’s where a court would have to step in,” Faklaris said.
Goodwin says you won’t have to hand over your phone if you get pulled over.
“In most states, you will either scan a phone code or they have a special reader, and that’s one of the things we have to determine,” Goodwin told Channel 9.
The American Civil Liberties Union recommends legislative language for privacy protections, including:
- No police officer access to phones
- No Issuer ability to track via “phone home” mechanism
- Granular control over data released (selective disclosure)
- Unlinkability by verifiers (no digital ID as a ‘super cookie’)
- No remote government “kill switch” to disable people’s IDs
- A “right to paper”
- Restrictions on ID demands
- Restrictions on data use
- Enforcement through a private right of action
In January, the DMV gave lawmakers a 35-page study addressing privacy concerns, staffing, and more. You can see that report at this link. Lawmakers will decide the rules for MDLs over the next year or so.
Ultimately, the decision to get one is up to you.
(VIDEO: NC budget would let driver licenses expire in 16 years, but there’s a catch)
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