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'Pull Over and Show Me Your Apple Wallet' (macrumors.com) 65

Posted by BeauHD from the iPhone-and-registration dept.
Longtime Slashdot reader theodp writes: MacRumors reports that Apple plans to expand iPhone and Apple Watch driver's licenses to 7 U.S. states (CT, KY, MS, OK, UT, AR, VA). A recent convert is the State of Illinois, whose website videos demo how you can use your Apple Wallet license to display proof of identity or age the next time you get carded by a cop, bartender, or TSA agent. The new states will join 13 others who already offer driver's licenses in the Wallet app (AZ, MD, CO, GA, OH, HI, CA, IA, NM, MT, ND, WV, IL).

There's certainly been a lot of foot-dragging by the states when it comes to embracing phone-based driver's licenses -- Slashdot reported that Iowa was ready to launch a mobile driver's license in 2014; they didn't get one until nearly a decade later, in late 2023.
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'Pull Over and Show Me Your Apple Wallet' More

'Pull Over and Show Me Your Apple Wallet'

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  • I just remember my licence number (Score:5, Interesting)

    by devslash0 ( 4203435 ) on Monday December 29, 2025 @09:07PM (#65889309)

    I just remember my driving licence number. They type it into the system, my face pops up, quick visual check. Done.

    I had a situation once where I was going hiking on the morning of 1 Jan and the police set up a blockade at the entrance to my local motorway to breathalyse everyone after the New Year's Eve. The conversation went like this:

    Office: Do you have your driving licence with you?
    Me: I'm afraid I don't. But I remember its serial number if that helps?
    Officer: You remember your licence number?
    Me: Yeah, its ABCDEFG123456HI78JK.
    Officer: ... Alright, mate. You're free to go.
    Me: Are you sure?
    Officer: Yeah. No one on alcohol or drugs would be capable of doing that. You're not the droids we're looking for.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shilly ( 142940 )

      TBF, like me you're in the UK, and there's no obligation to carry your driver's licence when driving in the UK. Memorising your number is impressive though!

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      I just remember my driving licence number. They type it into the system, my face pops up, quick visual check. Done.

      I had a situation once where I was going hiking on the morning of 1 Jan and the police set up a blockade at the entrance to my local motorway to breathalyse everyone after the New Year's Eve. The conversation went like this:

      Office: Do you have your driving licence with you?
      Me: I'm afraid I don't. But I remember its serial number if that helps?
      Officer: You remember your licence number?
      Me: Yeah, its ABCDEFG123456HI78JK.
      Officer: ... Alright, mate. You're free to go.
      Me: Are you sure?
      Officer: Yeah. No one on alcohol or drugs would be capable of doing that. You're not the droids we're looking for.

      Here's the thing, in 20 years of driving I've not once been asked to show my drivers license to a cop... To buy beer because I look under 18, even at the age of 30, sure but never when stopped by a police officer.

      Not once in living in 2 countries has a law enforcement officer asked to see my ID outside of an airport immigration official.

      When I lived in Australia I used to get pulled over for random breath tests 3-4 times a year. Never came up with anything so never asked for ID. Nor was I asked the on

      • You've no idea the dystopian experiences had in the US. Minimal training, "implied consent", and qualified immunity are a recipe for "innocent people being shot for being justifiably outraged at violations of their rights". That doesn't begin to scratch the surface...but...the flipside is that cops are conditioned to believe that anyone could flip at any time and to treat everyone as a violent flight risk because the scenarios that are turned into training videos are the ones that are the most unpredictable

      • In the UK they do ask you because they still need to establish your identity to make sure you're not wanted. However, it's not mandatory to have your licence on you. They have other means of verifying your identity on the spot. It's just that having the licence with you makes it more convenient and quicker.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mjwx ( 966435 )

          In the UK they do ask you because they still need to establish your identity to make sure you're not wanted. However, it's not mandatory to have your licence on you. They have other means of verifying your identity on the spot. It's just that having the licence with you makes it more convenient and quicker.

          They can, but it's so rare outside of specific scenarios that they don't bother, at least not these days as we don't really have a lot of threats running around like in the 80's.

          I've only been pulled over once in nearly a decade of driving in the UK (as mentioned, 3-4 times a year in Oz just for an RBT) and he didn't ask me for my license, he just asked where I was going (he pulled me over outside of Heathrow and I had my bag on the passenger seat) and gave me a bollocking for going a bit fast, then let

          • We don't have a lot of threats running around? What was the last time you were outside? From reckless drivers to balaclava gangs left, right and centre.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by bws111 ( 1216812 )

        Well, I've been driving almost 50 years in the US, and I never had to show my license to a cop except during a traffic stop (which is cause).

  • To hand my phone unlocked over to the police.

    • Re:Just What I want (Score:5, Insightful)

      by snikulin ( 889460 ) on Monday December 29, 2025 @09:13PM (#65889325)

      Watch the videos. You are not handing the phone to anybody

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Personally if I am approached by a police officer, I'm putting all my digital devices into lockdown. When you're being pulled over or detained, you're on the losing side of a power dynamic and in no circumstance would I ever advise anyone to physically present a phone to a police officer even if you think it is just going to be an innocent NFC tap. To me that is inviting trouble. Yes, in theory your phone is still locked. Yes in theory, the officer can't just take your phone willy nilly. And in theory, Appl

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      To hand my phone unlocked over to the police.

      No, you can hand over your phone locked - your driver's license will be shown on the lock screen. You'd unlock your phone, tell the wallet app to display your ID then lock your phone and your ID will be displayed on the screen.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by shilly ( 142940 )

        You don't need to to unlock your phone to find an item in an Apple Wallet, you just double-click the side button to invoke Apple Pay and flick through the cards till you get to the one you're after. No unlocking at all, and the act of double-clicking also simultaneously triggers the FaceID authentication that ensures you are able to tap-to-authenticate.

        • So, let's get this right: You can steal an iPhone, double click the side button and flip through the wallet contents to spend all your victim's money? Cool!

          • Certainly in the EU it's limited to â50/day, the same as tapping a credit card, if the phone is unlocked. It used to be â30 but it was increased over COVID.

            I would guess it's the same everywhere.

          • Still need the face. But the poster is correct, this does not unlock the phone. The double tap allows you to unlock the use of a saved card. I do it all the time with my virtual BMW key. I double click, show it my face and hand it to someone to go grab something out of my car. At no point can they flip through my apps/photos/etc.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by shilly ( 142940 )

            No. Because Apple aren’t idiots. But you look like an idiot for thinking they’d build something so trivially insecure, and for failing to read what I wrote (“ the act of double-clicking also simultaneously triggers the FaceID authentication that ensures you are able to tap-to-authenticate.”)

  • Not Very Useful (Score:3)

    by crunchy_one ( 1047426 ) on Monday December 29, 2025 @09:12PM (#65889323)
    Here in California, a driver's license in Apple Wallet is not a valid form of ID recognized by law enforcement. The California DMV says, "Continue to carry your physical driver’s license or state-issued ID card. Law enforcement, state government agencies, and businesses aren’t yet accepting the mDL." So, what's the point?

    • Re:Not Very Useful (Score:5, Insightful)

      by sound+vision ( 884283 ) on Monday December 29, 2025 @11:21PM (#65889475) Journal

      The point is for people to feel like they got some kind of sci-fi gadget for their $1000. Also they'd like for you to feel that it's mandatory to carry at all times.

      Not being readers, the audience doesn't realize this is dystopian sci-fi. Like, the kind you don't want.

    • Businesses that scan your drivers license will then be able to start accepting it (chicken and egg problem). It can also likely be used for TSA. You can add your passport on Android, and it's not valid for international travel (and shows no personal info at all on the screen), but it activates the NFC chip and will transmit the passport info that way. TSA apparently have scanners at the agent that you can tap and the ID shows on their screen. I haven't tried it, but I've seen the scanners at every TSA ID ch

    • So, what's the point?

      That laws take a while to catch up with technology? Here in California you can't fine a waymo either. Time for your state's legislators to do some fucking work for a change.

  • Sorry officer. My cellphone is for my personal private and protected communication under the 4th ammendment to the constitution.

    • s/ammendment/a m&m and mint/

    • You stupid, naive SOB. (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      You think that's all it will take Johnny Law to throw up his hands and slink away in defeat? Guess again. You will be told "you definitely have the right to remain silent...as long as you can stand the pain."

      Now this pain might be literal or legal, but it WILL be applied. You may imagine yourself as the heroic main character in your mind's movie just because your coddling helicopter mommy told you that at some point in your life, but one day it will dawn on you that you are a bug under the boot of governmen

  • NOPE... phone gets shut off on stop (Score:3)

    by DigitalSorceress ( 156609 ) on Monday December 29, 2025 @10:17PM (#65889411)

    Cop pulls me over, the phone has been shut down. Handing them your phone with digital license is just invitation for them to go plug your phone into a moblie forensics tool and go fishing..

    Seriously, hand over your license and registration and proof of insurance paper and refuse to agree to any searches, refuse to answer any questions (politely) and ask if you are free to go.

    These digital wallets are just pretense to get you to unknowingly give consent for a search

  • Also notice that most of the states into this are police-friendly states already.

    It's weird seeing blue states allowing this, and red states getting onboard with technology when they also want voter ID and all that stuff.

  • It's been years since I used PHYSICAL driving license, car registration, IDs at airport, credit /debit cards, educational certificates, life or other insurance certificates and even property papers (to some limited extent - only urban and only if bought recently in last 5-8 years)

    OR depended on a specific manufacturer's App like Apple Google Samsung wallets for these things.

    The US is light years ahead of the world in most aspects but really lagging behind in some things that matter. Including payment system

    • I'm not sure a driver's license on a phone is "advanced." Sometimes, technology isn't an actual improvement.

      • Nor is advanced a synonym for improvement.

        That being said- I fucking love teh things I've been able to offload to my phone. WA doesn't do licenses yet, but it does do vehicle insurance. I'll be installing my Wallet ID the second I'm able to.

      • That's what i used to think. It IS advanced.
        It's not like some scanned image or such but a properly authenticated encrypted app that will pull the latest details from the central database including any violations and stuff and have a QR code that the police can scan from their app and then query the same database just in case you have your phone or the app hacked etc.

        It will also ask for your PIN/Biometrics to bring up the license details etc.

        Besides, the same app pulls up all sorts of government IDs, Insur

        • Sure, it's sophisticated. But in what way is the digital ID an improvement over the old laminated version?

          That police officer can already scan the bar code on your physical driver's license, and query that database you are talking about. And why do *you* the driver's license holder, need to be able to query that database? I have never, in 40 years of driving, felt the need to do something like that.

          As for disadvantages, you yourself mentioned an important one: the possibility of being hacked. This is not th

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shilly ( 142940 )

      Wait, if you're AmiMoJo, you're British, right? So how have you got through airport security without showing a physical passport?? Boarding cards, sure. But physical passport is still needed, is it not? Also, while I can indeed pull up the airline app to access my boarding card, it's massively *less* convenient than adding it to Apple Wallet and being able to use the features that provides eg appearing automatically on the lock screen as a notification for convenience once boarding time approaches.

      • No, not AmiMoJo, i am ami.one with a new ID :) (because the old one misbehaves).

        So this is all in INDIA, not UK.

        UK is now all the worst features from every country basically.

  • I would rely on this. Maybe if I drove a BMW or another pricey car I would consider it but it's a loser that drives a beater when I get pulled over by a cop I want to make damn sure that I can quickly hand them my license and registration in the hope that they are not going to go looking for an excuse to rip my car to pieces searching for drugs that aren't there or an excuse to arrest me so they can meet their quota that week.

    Again if I drove a really expensive car and was clearly very well off maybe I
    • This is why you don't compare a rate with a raw number.
      Yes, the crime rate goes down. However, the population increases. If the rate decrease doesn't offset the population increase, then you need more cops to maintain a static cop:person ratio.

  • Officer, I was driving 50mph over the speed limit with my lights off at night in a stolen car with no plates, the wrong way down an Interstate highway, and as you can see by the empty bottles around me, my blood alcohol level is higher than your IQ. Why would you expect me to have a license?

    • I've watched those Russian YouTube videos too. You always keep one untouched bottle of vodka in the car to bribe the cop. He isn't there for your license.

  • Yet another thing that doesn't belong on a phone (Score:3)

    by BeaverCleaver ( 673164 ) on Tuesday December 30, 2025 @03:12AM (#65889681)

    I don't understand what problem this is supposed to solve.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shilly ( 142940 )

      One less thing to take out with you and risk having it be lost or stolen. The risk already exists with your phone unless you're very unusual, and at least with your phone it's somewhat hard for a thief to access the data, whereas your driving licence has crucial information right there on it ready to be used by anyone who can get their hands on it. The main benefit is convenience, which you may not value that much but which others may.

      There's some obvious risks to making driver's licences digital, but there

    • I don't understand what problem this is supposed to solve.

      The same thing anything is supposed to solve. Why are we still carrying around little bits of plastic in 2025. The drivers license is now the sole and exclusive reason I carry a wallet anywhere. I can't wait for that to be digitised.

      • I don't understand what problem this is supposed to solve.

        The same thing anything is supposed to solve. Why are we still carrying around little bits of plastic in 2025. The drivers license is now the sole and exclusive reason I carry a wallet anywhere. I can't wait for that to be digitised.

        I also don't understand why it's "better" to carry a phone instead of a wallet. A wallet doesn't require a battery. A wallet still works if it gets dropped onto concrete. It's easier to take things out of a wallet (e.g you're going to the beach) and leave them at home if you don't need them.

        I guess this is just an example of the "one tool to do everything" concept vs "one tool to do each job." Use a phone as a phone, a licence as a licence, money as money etc. As long as the phone app doesn't become mandato

    • Access to your cellphone.

  • apple account required... (Score:3)

    by azander ( 786903 ) on Tuesday December 30, 2025 @08:18AM (#65889891) Homepage

    So you want to use your apple wallet for ID. What happens when Apple decides to suspend your account?

  • Voluntarily handing over your phone is all kinds of bad idea.
  • I dont hvae an i wallet nor do I have a driving license. in fact I don't have a motor vehicle.

  • I run a voting location in Ohio. An electronic copy of your DL cannot be used as ID for voting in Ohio. We only accept physical versions of your DL/State ID, US passport, or military ID. Two oddities: An electronic VA ID is acceptable, likely because the VA only issues electronic IDs these days. A military ID w/out an expiration date is also acceptable. I still have my US Army ID from c. 1978 and could technically use it except the photo doesn't really match well these days.

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