Many illinois residents will be able to store their driver’s licenses and IDs on their cellphones starting Wednesday, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced.
Digital IDs will first be available for iPhones and Apple Watches via the Apple Wallet app, and the new mobile IDs “will soon expand” to Google and Samsung wallets for Android devices, Giannoulias said during a West Loop press conference Tuesday morning.
Many businesses and other entities – including Transportation Security Administration agents at the city’s airports and more than 250 others nationwide – will be equipped to accept and scan digital IDs. A mobile verifier app will also be available for those businesses on Wednesday.
“This is modernization that makes sense: innovation that protects your privacy,saves time and makes your life easier,” Giannoulias said during a flashy proclamation that was kicked off with a video touting the new IDs.
Under the law passed last year by the Illinois General Assembly authorizing digital IDs, residents will continue to be required to have physical IDs. Mobile ones can serve as identification, but businesses aren’t required to accept them.
Residents will still be required to carry physical IDs when driving. Law enforcement is not required to accept the digital form.
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