In a conversation with Industry Insider — California, Ajay Gupta, DMV’s chief digital transformation officer, discussed the department’s work with technology companies to develop the California DMV Wallet and the mobile driver’s license (mDL), security for the planned deployment, its distinction from another state-level identity project, and future procurements. Among the takeaways:
- In late summer, DMV plans to expand its pilot beyond the friends and family phase to be available to a portion of the state’s 34 million people who have either a driver’s license or an ID card from the department — ultimately, around 1.5 million people. The California DMV Wallet — essentially, an app created by department technologists — is now available to be downloaded by Apple and Android cellphone owners. Those who do so currently can log in to their DMV account — but after reading “Create your mDL today” and choosing the “I want to enroll remotely” option, they will likely be greeted with the following notice: “We are currently in a controlled pilot phase and will be opening the Wallet to the general public in a few weeks.” (That’s how it was Friday on this reporter’s cellphone.) Once the pilot expands, however, the option to actually create the mDL — which will exist only on users’ cellphones — will become available. (Those who participate will still need to carry their physical driver's license or ID card.) The wallet is multistandard and will enable users to display just the information that is sought in a transaction: when buying alcohol, for example, proof that they are over 21 but not unnecessary details like a home address. The wallet has also been designed, Gupta said, to eventually hold other documents such as a vehicle registration card, a vehicle title, a disabled parking placard and a DMV-attested proof of insurance. Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose Mineta international airports are implementing the point-of-service (POS) devices needed to interact with the mDL, and the DMV is working with a convenience store company as well.
“Air travel is somewhat privileged, right?” Gupta said. “We are actually very focused on the daily life, meaning convenience stores, age verification, public services. We are working with various public service entities who can accept this in the future.” The deadline to obtain a Real ID, the federally sanctioned overlay on the existing California driver’s license or ID that enables bearers to fly domestically and to enter certain federal facilities, has been pushed out two years, to May 7, 2025. - The California DMV wallet app opens via facial ID — using your cellphone’s biometrics. It is Near Field Communication-enabled, for secure transactions, as well as Bluetooth and tap-enabled. Once inside, though, users will need to sign in to their DMV accounts in order to proceed. When mDLs do become available, users will need to enable the app to photograph their existing driver’s license as part of the provisioning process. The mDL, Gupta said, is not a “phone-home” type of document or identity. Rather, it is “decentralized,” meaning that it “lives” only on the cellphone — and in the secure element area that cannot be copied. Even as an mDL transaction gets underway, users will need to provide their consent again to release a portion of their identity information. And when, eventually, a user’s mDL is used in a transaction at an airport, convenience store, bar or financial institution, not only will the entirety of its information not necessarily need to be accessed for that transaction, but the user’s cellphone will not report the transaction anywhere — to the state, for instance. (The exception, he said, could be a law enforcement interaction, which could require a “phone home.”)
- DMV’s new department budget is $1.47 billion, with rounding, for the 2023-24 Fiscal Year that began July 1. In FY 2021-22, the department received $10 million to develop a mobile driver’s license and identification card. The initiative did not appear under budget change proposals for FY 2023-24, and Gupta said he doesn’t anticipate “anything significant in terms of procurements” on the horizon. Most of the budget has already been encumbered for existing contracts already in place, he said. Expanding the initiative beyond the pilot phase would require a budget change proposal and approval from lawmakers for a full expansion.
- Gupta told Industry Insider the app was built by the DMV and driven by the DMV with “no particular major system integrator putting it together.” The company SpruceID, which he characterized as a “product and specialized system integrator,” is offering assistance, however. Other industry partners include Salesforce, which serves as the platform for the DMV’s work on its own app; and Slalom as the Salesforce system integrator. AuthenticID, Avere, Digital Bazaar, iProov, PrivacyRescue and User Friendly Consulting are also working with the DMV. (iProov’s Senior Vice President of Americas Ajay Amlani and Chief Product and Innovation Officer Joe Palmer recently joined Gupta in a webinar about the DMV’s digital identity program.)
- The DMV is “the system of record for the statewide identity,” its chief digital transformation officer said, making it the ideal state department to roll out the California DMV wallet and mDL. But while the department holds residents’ data, he noted it also holds “the burden of verifying your identity and issuing the driver’s license,” he said, adding: “Same is true for issuing the mobile driver’s licenses.” The DMV’s work on the California DMV wallet and on mDL is distinct from digital identification work undertaken by the California Department of Technology, Gupta said, and they’re entirely different efforts — albeit potentially synergistic. The DMV’s mDL is, he said, a “decentralized ID” that is “only sitting on your phone.” CDT’s work — for which it received $1.2 million and three positions for “Digital Identification Continuation” in the new state budget — aims, in part, to “provide a blueprint for privacy-centered SSO services.” That refers generally to single sign-on and the ability, one day, to be able to access a variety of state services through a single logon.
