Delaware aims to beat out Iowa, be 1st with digital licenses

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - Delaware is hoping to be the first to state in the country to allow drivers to use an app on their smartphones as their official driver's license.

The state's Division of Motor Vehicles is studying the issue after the Legislature adopted a resolution last week, the Daily Times reported Wednesday, (http://delmarvane.ws/1zaU1ts ).

State officials say digital driver's licenses won't eliminate hard plastic licenses, but would give drivers more options and convenience.

Jennifer Cohan, DMV director and the governor's nominee for secretary of transportation, said that if meetings about the idea go well in the next couple weeks, Delaware could begin testing it out "sooner rather than later."

Iowa is also trying to become the first state to offer digital driver's licenses and is now crafting its own pilot program, followed by the rollout of the driver's license app in 2106.

Iowa and Delaware share a driver's license vendor, along with 40 other states. The vendor, MorphoTrust USA, began working on a concept two years ago for the mobile app.

"It's an idea whose time has come," said Jenny Openshaw, the company's vice president for state and local sales. "Smartphones are becoming more and more a digital wallet. Eventually, the last piece of plastic I need to carry around with me is a driver's license."

Already last year, the state began allowing drivers to show electronic proof of insurance during traffic stops.

The driver's license app would display information already found on a state driver's licenses, including birthdates, names, addresses, signatures and photos. The app would require facial, fingerprint or voice recognition, in addition to a personal-identification code to ensure only the ID holder can access it.

Cohan's agency is set to meet with representatives from MorphoTrust next week to discuss logistics, including questions about ensuring the secure transmission of personal data and other issues, she said.

"So far, what we've seen and been working with our vendor on is very promising," she said.

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Information from: The Daily Times of Salisbury, Md., http://www.delmarvanow.com/