Apple officially launching support for digital ID and mobile driving licenses (mDLs) in the Apple Wallet empowers passengers to use their mobile device as their remote control for travel. There is expectation in the coming years that the development of a universally accepted digital identity will replace the traditional passport.

Identity experts sent a letter urging the Biden administration to accelerate the deployment of mobile driver’s licenses and ensure identity theft victims get direct assistance. The experts said four items must be added to an upcoming executive order from the U.S. government focused on preventing and detecting identity theft: mobile driver’s licenses; direct assistance for identity theft victims; identity attribute validation services; and a federal digital identity framework.

The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles said the state House of Representatives approved a proviso to study the topic and its adoption in the state. The proviso calls for the DMV to lead a study committee that will make recommendations on implementing and accepting mobile identities in South Carolina.

Apple has broken new ground by allowing iPhone users’ Apple Wallets to serve as official identification if equipped with a driver’s license or state ID. Setting up your iPhone with a driver’s license or state ID is just as simple as adding a card to your Apple Wallet, but you’ll need to follow a few steps.

Apple has opened up its mobile driver’s license and digital state ID program in Arizona. The mDLs can now be stored in the Apple Wallet. The initiative, built into Apple’s iOS 15 software that powers modern iPhones, was announced last summer and will expand to Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi, Ohio and Puerto Rico “soon.”

Apple announces that Arizona is the first state to offer mobile driver’s licenses and state IDs in Wallet. Residents can add their driver’s license or state ID to Wallet and tap their iPhone or Apple Watch to securely present it at select TSA security checkpoints in Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

GET Group North America has launched an app on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store that enables businesses to automate the authentication of mobile ID and mobile driver’s license information. GET Mobile Verify allows businesses and government organizations to read digital IDs and driver’s licenses issued anywhere around the world as a legal form of age and identity verification.

A bill in the Utah Legislature proposes to move to a digital driver license (DDL). State Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, is proposing a bill — Senate Bill 88 — that would make permanent an electronic license certificate or identification card and would require the Utah Driver License Division “to maintain the security and privacy of information related to” the mobile driver license and ID card.

South Korea is kicking off a six-month trial of a new mobile driver’s license system. If all goes well, the country will move forward with the full national launch of the system in July.

iOS 15 was supposed to include the first set of mobile driver’s licenses launched in partnership with 8 states. Now Apple’s mobile driver’s license launch is delayed. Late last year, various articles surfaced concerns about Apple’s contract with state governments, specifically regarding who was paying for them (governments, aka taxpayers) and who had control over the launch (Apple).