Tennessee’s proposed digital ID bill not necessary for mDL launch

Recently proposed legislation to establish a digital ID in the state of Tennessee may not have been necessary, while users from many states throughout the U.S. remain unable to add their mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs) to Apple Wallet years after the company announced the feature was in the works.

Existing Tennessee law renders proposed digital ID bill unnecessary

First proposed in the House and Senate earlier this year, Tennessee’s digital ID bill, SB 2661/HB 2792, may not be necessary because a program is already in motion, according to Local Memphis.

An email from the Tennessee Department of Safety the Local Memphis shows that the state has had a law allowing it to issue digital ID in place for years now and that an mDL program will soon be finalized, but a timeline for its implementation has not been established.

Despite the privacy and civil rights concerns that have been voiced as other states introduced their own digital ID programs, some local stakeholders, like liquor store owners in Memphis, have voiced support for the program.

“When someone is looking for their wallet, in their other hand is always their phone,” said Dwight Black, D’s Spirits and Wine owner, who estimates that 1 in 12 customers at the establishment misplace their ID.

Black also says the system needs to provide a way to verify identity. “We ensure that a driver’s license is real today in the hard copy,” Black said. “We need those assurances on the electronic version as well.”

Apple Wallet still working on mDL support 3 years later

Apple announced it was working several states to allow residents to add their IDs to the Apple Wallet on their devices in 2021. Years later, little progress appears to be made, according to Mac Daily News.

The initial announcement said that Arizona and Georgia would be the first states to have the feature, with Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah to follow after.

Today, digital IDs in the app are only available for Arizona, Georgia, Colorado, and Maryland.

According to a March 2022 announcement, residents from an additional eight states would soon be able to add their IDs to the app, but as of today, none have added the feature. The states in question are Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Utah as well as the commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Article Topics

Apple  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  driver's license  |  legislation  |  mDL (mobile driver's license)  |  Tennessee