Iowa is looking for a way for residents to have their driver's licenses handy in their smartphones.
The goal for the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) is to provide an electronic version of a license on an app, according to Mashable, which could be helpful in case you forget your plastic license at home. Drivers would be able to use the digital license, which the DOT is calling "an identity vault app," at traffic stops, airport screeners, bars and other spots in town.
Features would be included that would be hard to replicate, which could help in bringing down the use of fake IDs.
"We are still in the sketching phase and trying to move into development soon," said Mark Lowe, director of the motor vehicle division at Iowa DOT. "We have done enough serious work already that we feel confident about the features and how well it could work in the future."
The DOT wants the app to use optical bar codes and 3D-like photos so the licenses would be able to move, and Lowe compared it to still shots "coming alive," as in the "Harry Potter" movies, Mashable reported. He said police officers would also have the ability to pull the license as well, and that the license could have protections in case the driver was involved in some kind of crime or fraudulent activity.
While some who know about this project are concerned about the security of the license app, Lowe says they can be even more secure than their plastic counterparts.
The Iowa DOT plans on making the license app available to drivers sometime in 2015. If the app proves to be a success, Iowa will be the first state in the U.S. to allow residents to use a smartphone app as a driver's license.
