Despite the controversy surrounding its state-level implementation, Apple’s digital ID undertaking is slowly gaining speed, with Washington, D.C. just the latest state voting to approve identification cards you can carry on your phone at all times.
The Washington D.C. City Council has given the DMV authority to issue digital driver’s licenses or state IDs “and let residents present identification in an electronic format, such as on a smartphone, instead of a physical credential, except when prohibited by federal law,” reports the Washington Post.
The digital credentials scheme of Apple, in particular, recently got in hot water upon reports that it is offloading the expenses for its implementation and popularization to the states’ budgets, all the while it wants to have the final say on the marketing materials and technology used to make it viable.
Still, the program brings us a step closer to all-digital identification, with all its pros and cons, and D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser is expected to sign their own bill proposal into law soon. Given that nearly half of U.S. residents carry iPhones, that proportion in the nation’s capital will soon be able to appreciate the option of carrying their D.C. driver’s licence in their Wallet app.
