Iowa starts offering digital driver's licenses
- Thread starter QChawks
- Start date
I like the concept, but it raises a bunch of questions. Like if you hand your phone to a cop to show him your drivers license, does that give him permission to look through your call history and photos? Does simply having your ID on your phone give police the authority to seize your phone without a warrant?
You'd think the cop would have access to the database and be able to pull up your license himself in that situation.
Then why do we need our little plastic cards now if we're just going to have the cop look you up in the system? This is one of those ideas with good intentions that could go very wrong.
No way should police ever have their hands on your phone.
No way should police ever have their hands on your phone.
You probably don't need them anymore, really. But those systems weren't available when the methods for showing ID were invented 60 years ago and we've just never bothered to update how we do things.
I understand that. I've forgotten my wallet before and given them my DL number. But my cousin has also pretended to be her sister in the past. If I have a warrant I'm going to say my phone died/forgotten and my actual name is someone else. How do they control that?
I'm in law enforcement and not sure about this one. We have to scan the bar code on the back of the drivers licenses, so I would have to take the phone back to my patrol car with me. Not sure I'm comfortable doing that. Also, at accidents or incidents where you are not conscious how would we identify you quickly?
You know your DL # off the top of your head? Or you have it writtend down and stored somewhere in your vehicle?
Seems odd either way.
Yes.
Back on topic. What happens when a phone is dead? What if the DL app crashes? Am I just who I say I am? People probably forget their hard copy DL all the time. What happens? Is there a LEO that can tell us what happens in those situations? I love the idea of a digital copy of my DL, I just think there are some gaps.
If you don't have a DL with you, I'd imagine you get a ticket. You can then get it waived by producing a valid DL in front of a judge. This is the same procedure used if you fail to have proof of insurance when you're stopped.
If you don't have your drivers license with you we take your name and date of birth and run you that way. For those officers that have a computer in their car, we can also see your dl photo to make sure you're not lying. Again, I have concerns as well.
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What, exactly, is the point of that?
One of my friends once told me that he always memorizes his credit card numbers, because someone once told him that you were supposed to do that. He was absolutely baffled that I didn't do it as well.
What is the issue with letting a cop look through your phone? Understand the privacy concern, but really how does it hurt you?
No reason really. I couldn't rattle off my credit card numbers for you. But my license number is easy to remember so I just know it. There are 3 pairs of numbers/letters in it so it's just easy to say it without looking.
There's the concept of general privacy, though maybe you're voluntarily giving that up if you go with a digital DL. It's basically unnecessary search. I have nothing in my trunk besides a tire iron, jumper cables, first aid kit, spare tire and some youth baseball gear.....but I'm still not going to be excited about an officer asking to search my trunk during a random traffic stop. I keep a lot of stuff on my phone and am not thrilled with the idea of really anyone having possession of my phone out of my sight.
I've never understood this type of thinking - the police have no reason to look through my phone. If they do, they should get a warrant, then they can look all they want.
Once, while driving in El Salvador, we were waved over by a bunch of National Guard standing by the road. They ordered us out of the car, ordered us to open the trunk, and proceeded to go through everything, including searching the ladies' purses, while we just stood there. Needless to say, they didn't find anything out of place.
When they were done, we picked up our stuff and put it back in the car, and drove away. As we left, we were all very quiet. To be honest, it felt terrible to me and the others I was with - it really put a damper on our day. It also made me feel good about living in the United States. It's a great thing that we have rights to prevent unreasonable searches in this country.
