According to a report earlier this week from Andrew Romero at 9to5Google, Samsung has added support for digital identification cards from Arizona and Iowa in its eponymous Samsung Wallet app.
Romero links to a press release from Samsung announcing the news, writing “Arizona and Iowa will be the first states to offer a virtual version of state IDs and driver’s licenses [and] the first to be officially added through Samsung Wallet.” Samsung noted in its press release the driver’s licenses and identification cards will roll out in early 2024, and the company is building a software development kit, or SDK, for developers to integrate the functionality into their third-party apps.
“Mobile driver’s licenses are the new frontier of digital identity,” Jeanie Han, executive vice president and leader of Samsung’s wallet team and mobile experience business, said in a statement for the press release. “The addition of mobile driver’s licenses to Samsung Wallet is a perfect example of our commitment to creating technology for our consumers that truly makes life easier. By combining the best of Galaxy continuity and security, we are helping our users simplify their daily routines.”
Per Romero, Samsung is partnering with IDEMIA in implementing the technology, with the latter organization being responsible for “[handling] official identification in the United States for several states.” At a technical level, Samsung is using the ISO/IEC 18013-5 standard, purported to be “secure, accurate, and private,” Romero added.
Romero notes Google Wallet has been working on a similar feature since last December, with participating states currently limited to Maryland at this time. For its part, Apple’s own Wallet app also supports digital identification cards; 9to5 Mac has a tracker of which states are throwing in with the technology. To date, only four have official support: Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, and Maryland. Here in my home state of California, the powers-that-be have inexplicably spurned Wallet support (in Apple’s case) in favor of a pilot program around a bespoke app in the App Store.
As a lifelong disabled person who obviously carries my identification card everywhere I go, the seemingly glacial pace at which states are adopting OS-level Wallet APIs is frustrating. Just yesterday, I went down to the peninsula on a reporting trip for an upcoming story for another outlet, and had to show my ID upon signing into the company’s headquarters. I pulled my physical card from my wallet with little trouble, but the experience would’ve been more accessible and expedient had my ID been living on my phone. A double-press of the iPhone’s side button opens the Wallet app—even with the device locked—and doing that would’ve been far easier and faster than fumbling through my back pocket for my tactile wallet and finding my identification card.
To be clear, in no way am I suggesting that physical wallets or identification cards are bad. Even if California supported Apple’s Wallet app, I’d very likely continue to carry my wallet around with me. The salient point is, as is the case with accessibility and assistive technology, leveraging tech oftentimes is the best weapon with which to break down barriers in the physical world. My anecdote about going on the reporting trip and needing to show ID upon arrival is proof positive of that ideal.
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