Revolutionizing Identification: Samsung Wallet Brings Driver's Licenses and State IDs to Your Smartphone

Last year, Samsung combined Samsung Pay and Samsung Pass into a single app named Samsung Wallet. The goal was for Wallet to support a range of features such as credit cards, digital keys, and even government IDs. However, it is taking longer than expected to set up some of these integrations. Now, Samsung is introducing support for drivers' licenses and state IDs in the Wallet app for users in the United States. Just like Apple's implementation in the iPhone Wallet app, this feature is not available in all states. In a recent press release, Samsung announced that Arizona and Iowa will be the first states to offer a mobile version of their driver's licenses to residents. This update aims to enhance the Samsung Wallet experience by providing a convenient and secure way to use state-issued IDs and driver's licenses with a Galaxy smartphone, including the new Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5. While the feature will be available soon, residents of Arizona and Iowa will have to wait a bit longer as the ability to add driver's licenses to Samsung Wallet will be introduced later this year.

Unfortunately, only Arizona and Iowa currently have support for digital IDs, leaving the vast majority of states without this convenience. Iowa has a population of approximately 3.2 million individuals, while Arizona has around 7.4 million residents. Despite these numbers, these two states account for just 3% of the total population of the United States. The lack of a universal federal-level identity card means that each state is responsible for developing its own system for digital IDs, which has resulted in a slow implementation process. Apple's Wallet app also has a limited number of supported states, including Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, and Maryland. Samsung is actively collaborating with additional states to expand support for digital IDs, and they are in talks with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to potentially accept mobile driver's licenses at certain federalized airports.

It is unclear how many individuals are willing to use digital driver's licenses and state IDs, even in states where they are permitted. The privacy and safety concerns associated with smartphone access around law enforcement create hesitancy among people. The ACLU has expressed worry that law enforcement officers may exploit digital driver's license verification as an excuse to search individuals' phones. Instances of police confiscating phones without proper warrants based on probable cause have been reported, and certain police departments and federal agencies have utilized hacking tools to extract data from seized phones.