iPhone and Android are about to take another huge step

iPhone and Android are about to take another huge step toward replacing your wallet

The iPhone and or Android handsets might become even more important personal devices in the future, The Wall Street Journal reports, as users may soon store their driver’s licenses in a special app on their phones. Iowa is already looking into building the nation’s first smartphone driver’s license, which is a mobile app that will “co-exist with the traditional plastic card.”

Apparently, both iPhone and Android apps are in development and should be available as free of charge downloads to interested users in the future.

However, even though the apps are expected to launch in 2015, there still are some “concerns about privacy” and security that might delay their launch.

The problem with digital driver’s licenses is that they might expose additional data about a user, in case he or she should hand over the device to the law enforcement officer looking to see the digital document. Andrea Henry, a spokeswoman for the local Department of Transportation says the app should work in such a way that the phone doesn’t leave the owner’s hand when the driver’s license needs to be inspected.

Furthermore, smartphone notifications, which may be incriminating for a user showing the driver’s license, should not show up on the display while the app is in use.

Finally, app creators will also include some security features in the app, so that driver’s licenses can’t be faked — “one feature might have the photo on the license move slightly so that it is distinguishable from a screenshot,” the Journal notes.

In addition to Iowa, the company creating the app (shown in the picture below) is discussing smartphone driver’s licenses with more than 20 other states.