California expands digital ID program to Google, Apple wallets
California is expanding its mobile driver’s license program, with plans to soon make digital IDs available to residents through Google Wallet and Apple Wallet, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced Thursday.
The expansion will allow residents to more easily present their California driver’s licenses and ID cards at certain businesses and at Transportation Security Administration airport security checkpoints using their Apple or Android devices, according to the announcement. Officials said the digital IDs don’t replace the requirement for individuals to carry physical cards.
More than 500,000 residents have already added digital IDs to their phones using the California DMV Wallet app, which the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles launched through a pilot program last year.
“This is a big step in our efforts to better serve all Californians, meeting people where they’re at and with technology people use every day,” Newsom said in the announcement.
Officials said the state’s DMV plans to continue working with financial institutions, retail stores and law enforcement and other government agencies to expand where digital IDs are accepted. As part of the effort, the California DMV plans to host two hackathons this fall for developers interested in finding new uses of the digital IDs.
At least eleven other states offer mobile driver’s licenses, and at least five states, including Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland and Ohio, support Apple Wallet.
