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Thus far I\u2019ve not been anywhere that had the facilities for me to use my mobile driver\u2019s license.<\/p>\nThus far I\u2019ve not been anywhere that had the facilities for me to use my mobile driver\u2019s license.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d kind of forgotten it was even on my phone. It\u2019s there in the Apple Wallet, and I\u2019ve gone \u201cfamiliarity blind to it,\u201d I see it, but don\u2019t see it. Maybe that\u2019s a guy thing?<\/p>\n
Anyhoo, I recently got the DL license renewal form. (2 pages) which encouraged me to \u00a0use the DMV renewal web portal.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve got a little problem with the DMV charging me an extra (and in my opinion excessive,) \u201cconvenience fee\u201d. Convenient for who? Me, or California?<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t mind writing a check. I know that my choosing to handle stuff like this via paper, and checks is more difficult, and labor intensive a.k.a. inconvenient<\/em><\/strong> for California. As an aside, I deal with the Feds, the same way.<\/p>\n It is no more or less convenient for me to write a check and put a stamp on an envelope.\u00a0<\/p>\n Maybe they should discount renewals and the like on the DMV website to encourage folks like me to give them our debit card numbers and allow California to collect their cash instantly.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not overly concerned about using technology but I\u2019ll be damned if they\u2019re going to hit me with another fee for making their<\/em><\/strong> job easier.<\/p>\n I digress.\u00a0<\/p>\n I woke up this morning to the usual notifications from my bank about transactions that had cleared. However this morning, there was an additional notification. This one was from the digital \/ mobile driver\u2019s license.\u00a0<\/p>\n The notification said my license had been updated. \u201cThat\u2019s new,\u201d I thought. I tapped on the notification and was informed that the expiration date had changed and my license had a new expiration date.<\/p>\n I logged into the DMV website and confirmed that yes, my license has been renewed and all I\u2019m waiting for now is the hard copy.<\/p>\n Hmmm. That\u2019s kind of neat.\u00a0<\/p>\n From what I understand, you\u2019ll get similar notices when you\u2019ve used the digital license at the TSA or other venues for identification. I\u2019m curious to understand more about the digital IDs, much of what I\u2019ve read seems a lot like vapor ware. The use cases and specifications sound a little “over the top”.<\/p>\n As I\u2019ve stated elsewhere, I think digital ID\u2019s have great potential. I also think they have a really dark potential downside.<\/p>\n The upside is that they could be used in places like Doctor\u2019s offices. It would be nice to only transmit the necessary information instead of everything. We\u2019ve all had the office administrator photocopy our license for insurance purposes, then attach it to our file. Going digital would make things a tad more secure, especially since we\u2019ve all received notices or seen on the news that hardcopies of our medical files have been found in dumpsters.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s scary since those files contain our ID, Social Security Number, address, date of birth, and a ton of other personal information.<\/p>\n If the data was only in computers and those computers had a field like \u201cID verified Yes\/No” then in theory, it would close off a pathway for identity theft. As the records stand right now, with either the hard copy or the digital copies, medical records are valuable to criminals because they have everything someone would need to commit ID theft.<\/p>\n I could see using digital IDs for voting. Wave your phone at a reader and get your ballot. That would help cut down on fraudulent votes, and also raise a red flag if someone had used a stolen ID to vote in your place. It probably wouldn\u2019t help in that election, but it would allow you to report the problem to authorities.<\/p>\n The biometric aspect of digital IDs means that in theory only you can use your ID, so there\u2019s better security built in. At least that\u2019s the theory.<\/p>\n If all stores that sold items like liquor, and cigarettes, used digital ID, then you could have a lot of convenience making those purchases. The register could ping the ID for age verification as part of the transaction process and not allow the sale to complete if someone were underage.<\/p>\n Even with in-person banking transactions or at an ATM it\u2019s theoretically possible to do away with the physical debit card, and just use the phone to access the account and verify ID so PIN numbers could be a thing of the past.<\/p>\n I personally prefer using my phone at gas pumps and convenience stores. Why? Because those places are notorious for having card skimmers and the phone option with biometrics cuts that shit right off. At least for the time being.\u00a0<\/p>\n If every sales transaction was linked to biometric ID verification on a personal device then theft and fraud could be a thing of the past.<\/p>\n All of this is of course, predicated on a government that can be trusted, and highly secure data.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, neither is true.<\/p>\n Data breaches happen every day all day. Trusting the government? Uh, NOPE!<\/p>\n The dark side of all of this would be the government being able to turn off your digital ID. They wouldn\u2019t have to touch bank accounts, they\u2019d be able to simply not verify your ID. The bank and ATM would then cease to function. As would every other transaction that verified your ID.<\/p>\n In a cashless society that means you have no access to money, food, fuel, or anything else. If the government wanted you they\u2019d know exactly where you are and they\u2019d know you probably weren\u2019t going to get very far away from the last transaction terminal you accessed.<\/p>\n Purchasing guns or ammunition for example suddenly becomes a matter of record and the government could, at a whim make it impossible. PayPal and other Credit processors have already implemented blocks on sales of firearms, firearm accessories, gambling and some items of a sexual nature. It\u2019s written into the agreements.<\/p>\n The government turning off a Digital ID makes verbiage in the credit agreements redundant.<\/p>\n Talk about the ultimate gun control and passive gun registration. An overbearing government could in theory, disarm the entire populace in very short order.<\/p>\n Even if members of the populace had guns, the government could stop sales of ammunition, then all that\u2019s left is stopping the sales of precursor materials.<\/p>\n Think about not being able to buy lead, brass, primers, or gunpowder. (No more reloading.) Then since people are creative and clever, the government could stop sales of materials like carbon, sulfur, potassium, and nitrate materials. Meaning people couldn\u2019t even begin to make gunpowder.<\/p>\n Large quantities of fertilizer are already monitored in the US, after the Oklahoma City bombing.<\/p>\n In the aftermath of January 6 2020 The Bank of America released transaction records to the United States Government on suspects. The FBI knew exactly what those people had for breakfast.<\/p>\n So it\u2019s not much of a stretch.<\/p>\n A bad government could, by turning off an individual’s digital ID prevent them from voting, buying or selling cars, homes, or renting an apartment. That same bad government could turn off access to public assistance and retirement funds. A bad government could control literally anything they didn\u2019t want people to have.<\/p>\n Down that path lies dystopian nightmares.<\/p>\n It\u2019s already happening in China, and honestly the UK isn\u2019t far behind.<\/p>\n Last week, Apple announced that they were going to allow addition of passports to Apple Wallet.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hmmm. That might be really cool, especially if the passport in Apple Wallet acts like the Passport card. The Passport Card now allows travel between Canada, Mexico, and some of the Caribbean islands. Imagine the possibilities. Breezing through TSA and later Customs just by waving your phone at a reader.<\/p>\n Sounds neat, or does it?<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure that I\u2019m comfortable with an all digital ID or cashless future. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019d love the convenience.<\/p>\n That being said, I’m increasingly concerned about the potential misuse. Especially after COVID, the vaccine passports, COVID digital contact tracing, seeing how quickly people complied, and worse how quickly those in power began to abuse their power.<\/p>\n In an idealized perfect world, I\u2019d love digital IDs and a cashless society.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t live in that world.<\/p>\n My California mobile ID will continue to live in my Apple Wallet. I\u2019ll probably not notice it by next week. Knowing me, If I\u2019m asked for my ID I\u2019ll hand over my new drivers license even if the party asking for ID can read the digital version.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thus far I\u2019ve not been anywhere that had the facilities for me to use my mobile driver\u2019s license. I\u2019d kind of forgotten it was even on my phone. It\u2019s there in the Apple Wallet, and I\u2019ve gone \u201cfamiliarity blind to it,\u201d I see it, but don\u2019t see it. Maybe that\u2019s a guy thing? Anyhoo, I … <\/p>\n