The Utah Department of Public Safety’s Driver License Division (DLD) is now enabling state residents to set up their own mobile driver’s license at home, marking what is essentially the official, broad launch of the digital ID system after a smaller-scale rollout began last year. The Utah mobile driver’s license program is powered by face biometrics specialist FaceTec, mDL innovator Scytales, and GET Group North America.
In August, America First Credit Union announced that it had partnered with the DLD to start signing people up for the mobile driver’s license in person at special registration events. At that time, the DLD explained that this was an initial phase of the digital ID project, and that the next phase would use selfie biometrics to let Utahns enrol themselves remotely.
That functionality is now in place, with the DLD explaining that its system uses facial recognition backed by liveness detection match an app user to the photo on their physical driver’s license. The enrolment process also involves scanning a barcode in place on the back of the physical license.
What’s more, the DLD says that the new digital driver’s license can already be used as official ID at the Salt Lake City International Airport, thanks to a collaboration with TSA PreCheck. Users can confirm their mobile driver’s license at airport security through a QR code scan, or simply by tapping their device at specialized readers, thanks to NFC technology.
That convenience comes with a cost, however: The Utah Department of Public Safety is charging $1.99 for an annual subscription to the mobile driver’s license app, explaining on its website that this is needed for covering “the costs of the pilot program, onboarding Relying Parties so that you can use your mDL, and securing the systems that operate mDL”.
The MDL app is available on for both iOS and Android devices.
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