Ohio residents can soon use mobile IDs to clear airport security, buy booze, but not vote

Attention in the terminal: You may now use your Apple Wallet to store a digital version of your state ID and use it to get through the TSA security checkpoint.

At Columbus' John Glenn International Airport, Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted heralded the development as an easy, safe and private way for travelers to carry and use their driver's licenses or state IDs. Ohio is the fifth state in the nation to join the program.

"It's secure, it's private. It uses the Apple technology that we put we put our credit cards on and our airplane tickets and all those other things. It's the same technology," Husted said. "It's also validated through the BMV."

When adding your ID to your Apple Wallet, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles only gets info needed to approve or deny the addition. Once added, the ID info is encrypted so the BMV, Apple and others can't access it unless the user chooses to show it.

There are some caveats: It's not yet available for Android phone users, you'll still need to present your physical ID card if asked, and the technology is only deployed to some airports, including John Glenn International in Columbus and Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport in Covington.

Husted described it as a convenience that will become more widely accepted. “This is just the beginning, this will grow.”

Where else can you use a mobile ID?

The state also launched a new application, Ohio Mobile ID , to allow agencies and businesses that have to verify age to use a digital ID. Husted said the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles and Casino Control Commission are among state agencies upgrading their systems to read mobile IDs.

Husted said the Ohio Division of Liquor Control has agreed that the mobile ID application is a valid form of age verification.

"It'd just be tapping phones together, just like you do with your credit card. It doesn't require any additional hardware from the business," Husted said.

Mobile IDs can't be used to vote

Husted said as time goes on, the mobile IDs will be accepted in more situations but for now, they won't be accepted by law enforcement or as identification for voting.

Adding mobile IDs to the list of approved voter identification forms would require a law change.

"Right now, it's not a use-case. We're not suggesting that it happen, we're not against it happening. We're rolling this out to help people become more accustomed to it right now," said Husted, who served eight years as Ohio Secretary of State and often said Ohio made it "easy to vote, hard to cheat."

Last year, DeWine signed one of the strictest voter ID laws in the country.

Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio residents can soon use mobile IDs to clear airport security, buy booze, but not vote