A MAJOR US state has confirmed it will be rolling out a new driving license change, with at least 11 other areas set to follow suit.
Drivers in New Jersey will be given the option to sign up to a new form of license that is set to “make life easier”.
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It comes as officials roll out a “new standard” for drivers and State agencies.
Those in participating locations will be able to get a mobile or digital license.
Non-driver identification cards are also going to be included in the new roll out.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy confirmed the move this week when he signed it into legislation.
“Digital driver’s licenses will make life easier for drivers across New Jersey,” he said.
“Innovation has always been at the core of who we are as a state, and my administration has embraced that spirit to deliver practical solutions that improve everyday life for our people.
“By bringing government services into the digital age, we’re setting a new standard for how the public interacts with State agencies.”
One of the key benefits to the digital roll out is that it will enable ‘real time’ changes to be made to the license.
Not only will this help law enforcement, it will also make them harder for fraudsters to target.
‘THE FUTURE’
The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators call it “the future of licensing and proof of identity”.
“An mDL (Mobile Driving License) is a driver’s license that is provisioned to a mobile device with the capability to be updated in real time,” the administration explained.
“It is comprised of the same data elements that are used to produce a physical driver’s license, however, the data is transmitted electronically to a relying party’s reader device and authenticated.
“The mDL is a significant improvement over physical credentials which can easily be lost or stolen, become broken or damaged, contain outdated information, offer too much information (including personally identifiable information), and can more easily be replicated by counterfeiters.”
At least 10 other states and Washington DC are set to follow in New Jersey’s footsteps with the new mobile licenses.
New Jersey is not the first state to subscribe to the new idea, as it joins around 15 states and Puerto Rico that have already fully implemented or are piloting mDLs.
These include Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, and Utah.
“With so much being done on smartphones these days, it’s only logical to offer New Jersey residents the option of a mobile driver license or non-driver ID,” Latrecia Littles-Floyd, Acting Chief Administrator of the Motor Vehicle Commission said.
Under the new law signed by Murphy on Wednesday, the MVC has up to 72 months to research, design, and roll out digital licenses for New Jersey.
The use of mDLs will be voluntary with physical cards still being issued.
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There are also a number of driver protections noted in the law regarding their digital information when interacting with law enforcement.
For example, showing a digital license does not give permission to officers of the law to search or access any other phone data.
The roll out is not connected to that of REAL IDs.
MIXED REACTIONS
So far there have been mixed reactions from drivers, with one saying on Facebook: “Yassss. Hopefully every state gets it on it.”
But others have raised hacking and identity theft concerns, as well as the issue of what happens if your phone dies and you have no physical license.
“With today’s breaches and hacks NO! chance,” one said.
“Great something else for the hackers to get hold of, you have to be kidding me,” another added.
Many said they would never hand over their phones to cops while others questioned how long the roll out will take.
“How soon? It took 20 years to get a real ID,” one wrote.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to the MVC for comment.
