ALBANY — More than 20,000 Long Islanders are among 100,000 New Yorkers who have so far applied for optional digital driver’s licenses for their cellphones, even as concern over privacy and civil rights rises in the legislature.
The new Mobile ID doesn’t replace the traditional driver’s licenses, learner permits or nondriver ID cards, and not all police agencies accept Mobile ID for identification at this point. The Department of Motor Vehicles said not all taverns and other business accept Mobile ID for identification, either, but the state is working on that.
The state’s Mobile ID is accepted at nearly 30 airports nationwide by the federal Transportation Security Administration including at LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports.
There are, however, privacy and civil rights concerns.
Proposed legislation would prohibit law enforcement officials presented with a Mobile ID identification from searching a cellphone for data that could be related to immigration status or other sensitive information. Police would also be prohibited from asking for consent to search the phone.
“We don’t want a surveillance state,” Assembly Deputy Majority Leader Michaelle Solages (D-Elmont) said on Monday. “People want technology to improve lives, but they also don’t want to be tracked.”
The legislators’ concern stems in part from the state’s Green Light Law. That measure allows undocumented immigrants regardless of their legal immigration status to obtain a standard driver’s license that isn’t subject to federal purposes such as immigration enforcement. The law was the focus of an unsuccessful effort in 2020 by the administration of then-President Donald Trump to obtain state databases on drivers as part of enforcement of federal immigration laws.
Solages said discussions continue with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration to include more privacy and civil rights safeguards to Mobile ID.
“It was to urge the governor to come up with some common-sense safeguards,” Solages said. “It was up to the executive to adopt it. That’s why we support a legislative fix to do it.”
DMV spokesman Tim O’Brien said Mobile ID is designed to be “contactless,” so police wouldn’t have to touch or handle the cellphone. Police could electronically scan the data on the license or ID, but only after the Mobile ID user consents to each request.
O’Brien notes no immigration data is contained on Mobile ID, or in traditional licenses, permits and ID cards. In addition, the Mobile ID data can only be unlocked by the user’s face biometric, fingerprint or personal identification number.
The DMV said Mobile ID can’t be used to track the user’s locations or movements.
“Nobody wants a technological dystopia that puts our most intimate information at risk,” said Lisa Koumjian, deputy DMV commissioner for communications. “That’s why New York, and many other states like ours, have worked tirelessly to create a digital credential that goes much further to protect your private information than a physical card ever could.”
New Yorkers can download the MiD app from Google Play or the App Store. Mobile ID can be used with Android 7 or newer phones or on iPhone 6 or new models. New Yorkers must use Face ID or Touch ID to use Mobile ID.
So far, 10,748 Nassau County residents and 9,198 Suffolk County residents have applied for the app.
Hochul said Mobile ID provides more security for data than traditional licenses, permits and ID cards.
“Not only will New Yorkers be able to quickly display their IDs, but they will have control over the personal information they share,” Hochul said.
Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.
