Apple has announced that residents in several U.S. states will be able to add their driver"s licenses and state IDs to Apple Wallet and have them accepted. The first states that will support the feature will be Arizona and Georgia with Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah to follow.
Commenting on the new feature, Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, said:
“The addition of driver’s licenses and state IDs to Apple Wallet is an important step in our vision of replacing the physical wallet with a secure and easy-to-use mobile wallet. We are excited that the TSA and so many states are already on board to help bring this to life for travelers across the country using only their iPhone and Apple Watch, and we are already in discussions with many more states as we’re working to offer this nationwide in the future.”
With the rollout, Apple says the Transportation Security Administration will enable select checkpoints at airports where Apple Wallet users can verify their identity before boarding a plane. Apple said that this gives people a more secure and convenient way to present their driver"s license and state IDs to authorities.
For those concerned about the security implications, Apple has several measures in place to help you relax. Neither Apple nor issuing states know when or where users present their IDs, the IDs are encrypted so they cannot be stolen or tampered with, the device uses encrypted communications to talk to the identity reader, if a phone gets lost, and you can use the Find My app to locate your device or remotely erase it. The encryption used by Apple meets the ISO 18013-5 mDL so it’s very secure.
Apple didn’t share exactly when the feature will be available but if you live in Arizona or Georgia you’ll be among the first to receive it. Afterwards, it will come to the other named states.