Mobile App Helps Oklahomans Get Real ID Licenses

(TNS) — Oklahoma's mobile ID app will now let residents upload documents needed for a REAL ID-compliant license to their phone.

This latest version of the app debuts less than a year before Oklahomans will need REAL ID to board an airplane, enter federal buildings or visit military bases.

By uploading a copy of their Social Security card, birth certificate and two proofs of residence through their phone's mobile ID app, state officials hope they can shorten in-person wait times at tag agencies and Department of Public Safety offices. At some locations, an appointment can only be scheduled two months out.

"All of our offices completely closed to the public for about a month at the beginning of the pandemic, said DPS spokeswoman  Sarah Stewart . "And then we also had to have employees serving in functions like taking peoples' temperature when they came in the front door, and making sure they sign the log."

All that happened soon after Oklahoma finally implemented a way for residents to acquire a REAL ID card.

What is REAL ID?

REAL ID is the federal standard adopted 15 years ago that increased security and authentication procedures for driver's licenses and identity cards. Oklahoma lawmakers resisted adopting the standards for state IDs, and only recently began handing out cards that meet REAL ID standards.

In October, anyone boarding a commercial aircraft, entering a federal building or visiting a military base will need a REAL ID-compliance card. Passports and military IDs already meet those standards, but those using only a state-issued card will need the updated version.

With the newest version of Oklahoma's mobile ID app, users can start their REAL ID application from home.

" The Department of Public Safety is really excited about that feature of the app, because it's going to cut down on in-person office times and allow people to start from the comfort of their own home," Stewart said.

After uploading the necessary documents, you'll make an appointment with a tag agent or DPS office, because the law still requires in-person verification with the actual documents.

Using the app, however, is meant to avoid the time it takes scanning each document in the office.

"We have to lay our eyes on it, but you don't have to scan them in so it makes the process a lot quicker," Stewart said.

It also ensures residents have all the correct documents they'll need before arriving at the office.

About Oklahoma's mobile ID

Mobile ID is a digitized version of a physical driver's license that allows citizens to store their identity via an app on their smartphone. According to IDEMIA, the company that developed the app and also maintains Oklahoma's physical ID infrastructure, the technology will transform the way citizens display their identity with unprecedented security and privacy controls that allows the individual to determine who they share personal information with, and what information they share.

The app can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play store.

Oklahoma was the first state to fully roll out a mobile ID. With an ID on their smartphone, users can verify their identity online while limiting which information to send to a retailer or government agency that's requesting verification.

Users can also use the ID in face-to-face transactions where it's accepted.

"You can share your legal identity and have it verified without having to hand over something physically, which obviously in a corporate world is something that businesses and people alike are trying to minimize," said  Matt Thompson , senior vice president of civil identity for IDEMIA.

The company is developing applications to help businesses and government agencies communicate with the app.

"That's going to just drive the usage of it, because at the end of the day, a credential is only as good as the number of places you can use it," Thompson said.

Mobile ID safety and privacy

IDEMIA considers a mobile ID to have more "baked-in" privacy protections than a physical ID card that someone might carry in their wallet. Personal information is stored only on the phone and at the Department of Public Safety.

No information is stored on the cloud. The app can only be accessed through security features that prevent others from accessing your phone, like a fingerprint or facial verification.

The app lets you disclose only the information you want to give out. Thompson said the barcode on the back of a physical ID contains all the information on the front of the card.

"In many cases, businesses strip and pull down all that data, and you don't know what they're pulling down and you don't know what they're storing," Thomspon said.

But with the mobile ID, he said, the user must consent to what information they're willing to share.

(c)2021 The Oklahoman. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.