Feds could take years to OK a state’s request for RFID-powered IDs

Proposed new driver’s licenses with embedded radio chips for the U.S. state of Ohio reportedly will wait years for approval by the federal Homeland Security Department.

Legislators in Ohio, which lies close to Canada, approved development of the digital IDs in April. Neither mobile nor (the much-delayed) Real ID licenses, the enhanced document would broadcast a unique code and biometric data that border guards for a small selection of nations could receive to identify the bearer remotely.

The goal is to speed border transits via land and at seaports when traveling to Canada, Mexico and some Caribbean Sea nations, according to The Plain Dealer, a news publisher covering Cleveland. One market would be cross-border truck drivers.

Editors for Cleveland.com report that they have not been able to get details about why federal approval will take so long. They were told it “could be a multi-year process.”

Five states, Washington, Vermont, New York, Minnesota and Michigan – all sharing a border with Canada – already have been authorized by the federal government to issue the RFID-enhanced documents.

Four provinces in Canada have distributed their own version of the ID more than a decade ago but dropped it, according to Cleveland.com for lack of demand due to better alternatives.

The addition of radio chips to digital ID and access management goes back at least a decade in the United States. Once approved, the documents likely would face significant opposition over worries that the government or businesses would track the wallet beacons.

Apple nonetheless has patented a wireless mobile driver’s license.

Article Topics

border security  |  DHS  |  digital ID  |  identity document  |  RFID  |  United States