California is letting a lot more people get a digital ID

California has considerably expanded a pilot program permitting residents to get a digital driver’s license / identification card that’s accessible on their cell phones (via 9to5Mac). The digital ID, which the California DMV is asking an “mDL” (cellular driver’s license), can be utilized for issues like getting by way of airport safety or proving your age when shopping for alcohol.

If you happen to select to enroll in the state’s digital IDs, there’s a couple of caveats to concentrate on. The DMV stresses that you simply’ll nonetheless want to hold your bodily ID or driver’s license on condition that “regulation enforcement, state authorities companies, and companies aren’t but accepting the mDL.” Just some airports and a handful of retail locations help them. The DMV promises that the app “doesn’t completely retailer your private information,” nevertheless it does preserve your telephone quantity and an “encrypted picture of your DL/ID card.”

And California isn’t letting residents add a digital ID to iOS or Android’s native wallets; as an alternative, you must use California’s devoted app. “Right now mDL isn’t obtainable for Apple or Google wallets,” the DMV says. “Nevertheless, extra platforms can be obtainable sooner or later.”