Could plastic driver's licenses become a thing of the past?

[yortsed snacilbuper]

Millions of people may be able to show their smartphones rather than a plastic card to prove they're legit to drive, vote or buy a beer in coming years.

Louisiana in July became the first state to make digital licenses available to anyone who wants them, and at least 14 other states either have developed a program, run a pilot or are studying the possibility, according to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.
Seventy-seven percent of American adults already own a smartphone, including 94 percent of adults under 30, and many state motor vehicle officials think residents will appreciate the convenience of having their driver's license available in an app.

Officials also like that the licenses are connected to a central database and can be updated easily with, for example, suspensions or revocations.

And unlike plastic cards that can easily be counterfeited or tampered with, mobile licenses are less susceptible to fraud, they say. But as is often the case when something analog goes digital, privacy advocates worry about the potential for government overreach and fear the digital licenses and motor vehicle databases will become vulnerable to hackers.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/could-plastic-drivers-licenses-become-a-thing-of-the-past/ar-BBPVsgn?ocid=spartanntp

[Stinky The Clown]

1. Far more smart phones are lost, hacked, or damaged than plastic driver's licenses.

Just sayin'

[oberliner]

2. Much like plastic credit cards

Or paper money.

[Ponietz]

3. Bad idea to hand a cop your smartphone!

[fescuerescue]

9. That point alone is massive

No way would I sign up for that.

[Iggo]

4. "I'm late because I had to charge my phone before I could legally drive my car."

[brush]

5. And if you lose your phone and haven't found it or replaced it yet?

[X_Digger]

6. If this becomes the norm, what is the impact to the disadvantaged?

I wonder about the intersection of those without phones and those that are in lower income brackets.

Just like some businesses move away from cash, I think this could have a disproportionate impact on the most at-risk members of our society.

[PoliticAverse]

7. What could possibly go wrong!? n/t

[Hoyt]

8. I suspect police nowadays can easily verify whether you have a license, plastic, digital, whatever.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. For those of us who don't have smartphones,

and who don't have any foreseeable plans to get one, real drivers' licenses will still work. I hope.

Oh, and cash. Real money. Those who never carry cash are, to put it bluntly, fucking idiots.

[Iggo]

11. Cash is king, babe.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. Yep.

I find that by making all of my day to day purchases in cash it's pretty easy to control my spending. I run out of cash, I can't spend. Simple as that.

I noticed a decade or more ago that the young people who used their debit cards for everything honestly could not understand why they were just barely making it from paycheck to paycheck.

[lostnfound]

13. Dead batteries...and zhima credits. Nt