Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) are working on digitising your licence to be stored on your smartphone.
The three main things you usually check before heading out are: phone, keys and wallet. In the near future you can probably cut out wallet, as DVLA are adding a nail to the coffin of our leathery companion. As a society we are edging ever closer to a digitised utopia, you can mark 2016 as a key turning point.
DVLA CEO Oliver Morley posted a picture (below) on Twitter showing an iPhone 6/6s, displaying a driver’s licence. DVLA are using the Apple Wallet app, it makes us question whether we will be seeing this on other operating systems. What is clear here, DVLA are developing with iOS in mind, so expect an earlier release for iPhones, if this idea does come to fruition.
So here’s a little prototype of something we’re working on #drivinglicencepic.twitter.com/a5eItrdiNI
‘ Oliver Morley (@omorley1) May 13, 2016
Apple Wallet can already store other sensitive information, most notably credit and bank cards which works in conjunction with Apple Pay. Digital licences have already been trialled in the US with Delaware and California taking part in the project, with the aim to offer it to the public by this year.
What Mobile got in contact with DVLA to enquire further about the new project but unfortunately it’s too early for any substantial comments. The biggest issue that comes to mind is security. Morley tweeted further stating “security [is] our priority.”
Morley added further saying the new digital licences are not a replacement for your plastic counterpart.
1) prototype = no timeline yet
2) not replacement for photocard, an add-on
3) security our priority
4) possible because #nomorecounterpart‘ Oliver Morley (@omorley1) May 13, 2016
Although DVLA are prototyping on an iOS device we can expect Android to be getting in on it too. According to analyst site Kantar Worldpanel, 58.8% of smartphone users are using Android in the UK. Apple’s iPhones make up 34.8%, with Windows Phone, BlackBerry and others rounding off the UK’s market share.
This is an exciting step that would make life easier for all of us on a Friday night. It’ll also make running out of battery an even greater inconvenience.
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Image via Gizmodo.
