New Zealand integrates international mDLs for age, ID verification

The NZ Verify or Whakatūturu App will be used to verify select international mobile driver’s licenses so that visitors can rent a car or check in to a hotel using only their phone.

The app will be able to verify mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs) from Queensland, Australia, and the U.S. states of California, New York, Ohio, Georgia, Virginia, Arizona, Maryland, Colorado, Utah, Iowa, New Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska, and including Puerto Rico.

Each of those credentials uses the mDoc format specified in ISO/IEC 18013, which supports remote age assurance and identity verification. Compliant IDs are listed in a Verified Issuer Certificate Authority List (VICAL), which can be read by humans with a VICAL Viewer such as the one developed by New Zealand-based Mattr last year. The company introduced support for remote ID verification with credentials compliant with ISO/IEC 18013-7 shortly after, but no private-sector technology providers for NZ Verify have yet been publicly identified.

“The NZ Verify app can be tailored to suit different needs, such as showing only confirmation of age and a photo when proof of age is required, ensuring that other personal details remain private,” said Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins. “This marks a significant step forward for the privacy of digital credential holders, and improves trust and user safety.”

Steve Armitage, Hospitality NZ chief executive, commented: “We’re pleased to see that the Government has invested in this solution that supports businesses managing identity checks.”

Collins said additional credentials will be supported by NZ Verify in the future. The app is available for download for iOS and will be coming to Android “soon.”

Armitage said that through the Kiwi Access Card his organization is exploring digital credentials and hopes to be the first privately-delivered digitized identification card, enabling it to be checked by NZ Verify. Hospitality New Zealand manages the Kiwi Access Card, a government-recognized form of photographic identification and proof of age card.

The Department of Internal Affairs plans to showcase the app at Hospitality New Zealand’s annual conference in June, helping hospitality businesses to adopt digital identity developments.

Recently, New Zealand’s accredited digital identity services regulator, the Trust Framework Authority (TFA), published a request for information (RFI) for suppliers that could help it build its infrastructure.

The TFA, which operates under the Department for Internal Affairs, is planning to set up two platforms — a Trust Register, which will hold a list of organizations or individuals accredited by the TFA, and a centralized Issuance Platform, which will issue digital credentials. The latter will be a shared platform used by multiple government agencies, according to the RFI.

Article Topics

age verification  |  identity verification  |  Mattr  |  mDL (mobile driver's license)  |  mDoc  |  mobile app  |  New Zealand  |  NZ Verify  |  VICAL (Verified Issuer Certificate Authority List)