Govt rolls out acceptance of Digital Drivers' Licenses, but only for tourists

Forums › Travel (planes, train, cruise) › Govt rolls out acceptance of Digital Drivers' Licenses, but only for tourists

wellygary

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#319613 13-May-2025 16:23

“NZ Verify/Whakatūturu App will initially be used to verify select international mobile drivers’ licences, meaning visitors can rent a car or check in to a hotel with just their phone,” Ms Collins says.

From today, it will be able to verify mobile drivers’ licenses from Queensland, Australia, and the US states of California, New York, Ohio, Georgia, Virginia, Arizona, Maryland, Colorado, Utah, Puerto Rico, Iowa, New Mexico, Hawai’i, Alaska"

Hey, how about giving us poor saps in NZ (who paid for this app) the ability to carry digital copies of our drivers' licenses?

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-verifier-app-signals-step-toward-modern-digital-identity-system

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#3372829 13-May-2025 16:25

How many people just have photos of their license stored on their phones. I have never personally been asked for it by the police, but I do wonder if they would accept photos on a phone, and they can then easily look it up in their systems.

mudguard

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#3372830 13-May-2025 16:31

I can't wait for it. I tend to alternate cars and given that I pay for most of my stuff using my phone these days I have no use for a physical wallet other than having my driver's license on me.

boosacnoodle

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#3372832 13-May-2025 16:48

The app description states, "NZ Verify will also be able to verify an NZ Transport Authority (NZTA)-issued mobile driver license when it is made available in the future".

wellygary

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#3372835 13-May-2025 16:59

boosacnoodle:

The app description states, "NZ Verify will also be able to verify an NZ Transport Authority (NZTA)-issued mobile driver license when it is made available in the future".

Err,
So you need NZ government app to verify a NZ government document is valid!!!...sounds like a great government job to have

Although I would not hold my breath, In a December 2023 OIA NZTA said they were

"currently in the discovery phase for this work" and
"Waka Kotahi has also not made any technical decisions on how the digital driver licence will be delivered. "

https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/About-us/docs/oia-2023/oia-13751-response-letter.pdf

johno1234

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#3372837 13-May-2025 17:08

It's quite disappointing that the NZTA app has your driver's licence details bit can't be used as a licence or form of ID. That should be a straight forward feature shouldn't it?

Batman

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#3372842 13-May-2025 17:32

mattwnz:

How many people just have photos of their license stored on their phones. I have never personally been asked for it by the police, but I do wonder if they would accept photos on a phone, and they can then easily look it up in their systems.

i do that. but i don't know the answer to the question.

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Mrcutiepatootie

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#3372843 13-May-2025 17:32

Apple and Google already allow driver licenses to be added to their respective wallets in the same states mentioned in the article if not more, why not just enable that?

I don't understand why you need an app to verify government-issued IDs when the literal two tech giants offer a native solution that's already government approved?

rb99

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#3372857 13-May-2025 18:18

Mrcutiepatootie:

Apple and Google already allow driver licenses to be added to their respective wallets in the same states mentioned in the article if not more, why not just enable that?

I don't understand why you need an app to verify government-issued IDs when the literal two tech giants offer a native solution that's already government approved?

Maybe for some strange reason they don't want to hand over this kind of thing to foreign monopolies, specially in Trumpland.

Personally I'd far rather have a separate document than everything on one hackable(?) device.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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mrdrifter

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#3372877 13-May-2025 20:12

rb99:

Maybe for some strange reason they don't want to hand over this kind of thing to foreign monopolies, specially in Trumpland.

Personally I'd far rather have a separate document than everything on one hackable(?) device.

Not just that. Once you have unlocked your phone and handed to a police officer to show your ID in the USA, they can check everything else on it.

openmedia

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#3372887 13-May-2025 21:07

I've been told a number of times in the US that I can't use an NZ drivers license as a form of ID. This happened a number of times in Austin TX and Boston MA.

At a recent corporate event the team we're told the could accept an Australian Drivers license as ID but would only accept a NZ passport.

I can't see many overseas agencies accepting a digital version of our Drivers License.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

eracode

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#3372939 14-May-2025 05:37

openmedia:

I can't see many overseas agencies accepting a digital version of our Drivers License.

That wouldn’t worry me at all - by far the biggest use case is just within NZ.

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xpd

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#3372944 14-May-2025 07:21

mattwnz:

How many people just have photos of their license stored on their phones. I have never personally been asked for it by the police, but I do wonder if they would accept photos on a phone, and they can then easily look it up in their systems.

I have mine stored on my phone, just in case. Bouncing between vehicles, I sometimes forget my wallet.

XPD / Gavin

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scuwp

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#3372960 14-May-2025 08:03

mattwnz:

How many people just have photos of their license stored on their phones. I have never personally been asked for it by the police, but I do wonder if they would accept photos on a phone, and they can then easily look it up in their systems.

You may find a lenient officer who wont take any action if this is all you have, however as the law stands, it is crystal clear that you must carry your DL with you and produce it on demand, and they are well within their rights to issue you an infringement if you can't. A digital image can easily be manipulated.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

networkn

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#3372984 14-May-2025 09:15

scuwp:

You may find a lenient officer who wont take any action if this is all you have, however as the law stands, it is crystal clear that you must carry your DL with you and produce it on demand, and they are well within their rights to issue you an infringement if you can't. A digital image can easily be manipulated.

I agree that is what the law says, but the DL is used for the police officer to be able to check it on their system. Physical cards can be manipulated too.

I'd agree an electronic ID, along with Electronic Car reg and warrant status should be well on it's way by 2025.

pchs

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#3373000 14-May-2025 11:45

xpd:

mattwnz:

How many people just have photos of their license stored on their phones. I have never personally been asked for it by the police, but I do wonder if they would accept photos on a phone, and they can then easily look it up in their systems.

I have mine stored on my phone, just in case. Bouncing between vehicles, I sometimes forget my wallet.

I drive quite a lot in a few different cars, and like others don't have any need at all to carry a wallet or old school physical cards! I've got a photo of my licence on my phone and had to show it to police officers on 3 different occasions (one being a very small speeding fine!) in all situations the police didn't mind at all that my licence was a photo on my phone, and even in the speeding fine situation I was only fined for the speeding. Obviously, I'm aware that its "not legal" to drive without a licence but am happy to accept the consequences of this, and also it's a pretty small sample!

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