TSA tests West Virginia’s mDL from Idemia I&S ahead of launch

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been running field tests of the West Virginia mobile driver’s license, made by Idemia I&S.

West Virginia is also among states that have committed to launching their mDL with support for Apple Wallet, along with Montana and New Mexico. The mDL was introduced with plans to support digital wallets from both Apple and Google and a launch as soon as this spring, but West Virginians are still awaiting its official launch.

When it does launch, West Virginia will be the fifteenth state in the U.S. to reach a production launch of mDLs, assuming another state does not jump ahead of it. TSA currently accepts all 14 except Delaware, Mississippi and Missouri at select airports, where travelers use biometric CAT-2s from Idemia I&S for identity verification. 

Of course, issuing an mDL and making sure it works with TSA are only two steps in an often complicated journey towards consumer adoption.

Envoc’s adoption experience

Louisiana is leading the U.S. in mDL adoption, by percentage of population.

It was state legislators and bureaucrats who supplied the initial vision for Louisiana’s mDL program, Envoc Founder and CEO Calvin Fabre tells Trinsic’s “The Future of Identity” podcast.

The LA Wallet was launched before the ISO/IEC 18013-5 standard was finalized, and its status as a pioneering digital credential meant addressing new considerations. Law enforcement officers told Envoc early in the process that they did not want to touch people’s phones. Envoc developed guidelines for how relying parties could accept mDLs from Louisianans without handling their phones, and supplied them to law enforcement agencies and alcohol regulators for training.

Remote identity verification for disaster relief benefits was another early use case for the LA Wallet, Fabre says.

Fabre explained that loading an mDL onto a device can be a high-friction experience, with selfie biometrics and liveness checks as part of a long process.

“It’s my personal view that because Louisiana went with what’s called the ‘Flash Pass,’ or a digital reproduction of your physical credential, and you can get that on a low-friction transaction onto your device quickly, that fed the adoption that Louisiana has,” he says.

The “Flash Pass” provides lower assurance than an mDL, but demonstrated the value of digitized credentials and sparked enrollment for full mDLs.

Digital driver’s licenses were the first credential for the LA Wallet, and user feedback led to prioritization of hunting and fishing licenses as the next credential supported. This excited “a whole new demographic” about the project. Same for concealed carry handgun permits.

Podcast host and Trinsic CEO Riley Hughes asks whether adoption was more linear or proceeded in steps with the addition of each new use case. Fabre noted that digital proof of COVID vaccination significantly drove adoption, and in turn increased its credibility.

Credential holders tended to be ahead of relying parties, however, meaning that in many cases, users would phone the help line with complaints that the legal equivalence of the mDL was not being recognized. With experience, relying parties have been slowly coming around and developing new policies for how to accept them.

The status of the LA Wallet as the only accepted means of proving adulthood for mandatory age checks to view pornography online also boosted adoption, by close to 300 percent. The user provides only a temporary code, which proves they meet the age threshold, and no personal data is stored.

Fabre says that adoption of Louisiana’s mDL will advance beyond the 65 percent adoption, roughly 1.8 million people, with greater involvement from banks. This could take the form of authentication with live selfie biometrics for some remote banking transactions.

He does not believe that Apple wants to integrate with motor vehicle departments and other government agencies, leaving space in the market for the LA Wallet alongside Apple Wallet.

Envoc continues to work on privacy protections and vouching capabilities to push adoption of Louisiana mDLs even higher.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  driver's license  |  Envoc  |  IDEMIA  |  Idemia Public Security  |  ISO 18013-5  |  mDL (mobile driver's license)  |  Trinsic  |  TSA