Iowa starts testing mobile driver's license app

Iowa drivers are a step closer to being able to have their driver's license on their smartphones as state employees start testing a mobile version state-issued licenses.

Employees of the Iowa Department of Transportation have started testing the mobile driver's license app, or mDL, as part of a new pilot program, MorphoTrust USA announced Wednesday. MorphoTrust is the company providing the software for the mobile app.

The state transportation department first said in December it wanted to bring a digital version of licenses to Iowans.

MorphoTrust said the pilot test makes the DOT employees the first in the nation to use the company's mobile driver's license software.

The app is not ready for public use, though.

“Although we’re not yet ready to release the mDL for customer use, the lessons learned in this pilot will demonstrate the use case for our mDL Application to be offered in the future as an option to all citizens across the state, and may help guide other states who want to launch similar digital identity programs," Iowa DOT Director Paul Trombino said in a statement.

The pilot test involves hundreds of state employees who will test the mobile app in various settings.

Pilot testing is open-ended. There is no set date for when the mDL app will be released to the public.

"We are not prepared to offer a date on when the mobile driver license will be released to the public, yet. As we continue to learn from the pilot and validate the mobile driver license from usability perspective, we’ll have a better sense of when it will be released,” said Jenny Openshaw, MorphoTrust’s vice president of state and local, in an emailed statement.

The pilot period is also testing the efficiency of updating DOT records through the app, such as making changes to addresses, organ donor status and license restrictions.

Here’s how the app would work, according to a MorphoTrust video provided to the Register:

• After downloading the app to their smartphones, Iowans would receive an email with instructions and a PIN number.
• Users then enter their email and PIN numbers into the app and confirm their identity by taking a “selfie” with their phone’s camera. The app matches the selfie with the on-record photo on a user’s license.
• Swiping up in the app shows the front of the license. Swiping down shows the back.

For example, on an Iowan’s 21st birthday, the app should automatically switch the license from the vertical, under-21 version to the horizontal, over-21 look.