Google Wallet can now hold driver’s license for 500,000 Californians -- some concerned with privacy

Photo byCA DMV

CALIFORNIA – Governor Gavin Newsom announced, August 23, that Google Wallet can now store digital licenses for Californians participating in the mobile driver’s license pilot program.

According to Newsom, California is now one of five states to offer a digital driver’s license in Google Wallet. Last week, he announced mobile driver’s licenses would also be coming soon in Apple Wallet.

Unified digital ID system

In 2023, the DMV introduced the California DMV Wallet mobile driver’s license (mDL) pilot program. To date, more than half a million Californians have added the mDL to their smartphones.

The digital license is currently accepted as a valid form of identification at select retail locations and TSA airports.

The pilot program is part of the statewide Digital Identity Framework. The initiative is aimed at creating a unified digital ID system for residents.

The Digital Identity Framework website says with a digital wallet and IDs, Californians can gain access to services, without carrying extra items on their person, like:

• State-park passes
• State-issued professional licenses (i.e., cosmetology, fishing)
• Vaccine records
• Transit passes with embedded discounts
• Electric vehicle charger access
• Mobile driver's license (mDL)

Concerns with handing phone over to officer

One user on Reddit cited concerns about handing their phone over to a police officer to show their mDL.

“You're definitely going to need to unlock your phone to access the digital ID. Handing an officer an unlocked phone is the very same thing as turning it in and giving them full permission to search it,” said the user.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says we need governance that properly limits law enforcement access to information collected by mDLs, and to other information in the smartphones where holders place their mDLs.

They also say when deploying mDLs, governments should prioritize holder control, privacy, and transparency.

“The app is not required anywhere. It should remain that way no matter how cryptographically secure the system purports to be, or how robust the privacy policies,” says the EFF.

The state’s mDL pilot program is ongoing and currently limited to 1.5 million participants.

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