Could your driver's licence soon be sitting on your phone right next to your TikTok and Candy Crush apps?
That's the plan, with digital driver's licences set to roll out soon as part of the Government's sweeping plans for digital transformation and an all-government app.
The Government "remains on track to deliver the first version by late 2025," Chief Digital Officer Paul James told RNZ.
Here's where the plans are at, and how they might work.
What are digital driver's licences?
Digital driver licences allow you to store a secure, encrypted version of your licence on your phone. You would open a government app and your phone would show a digital version of your licence, enabling it to be verified by police or whatever agency might need to.
Dylan Thomsen, communications, research and road safety manager for the New Zealand Automobile Association, said it was all part of ongoing changes for drivers as technology changed.
"At one time in the past a driver's licence was a piece of paper, then it became a plastic card with a photo in the '90s and now we are heading towards the next step into the modern world with some form of digital licence."
Digital driver licences have been adopted in many other countries, including much of Australia – New South Wales began using them back in 2019, and they are also used across Queensland and Victoria.
"Many drivers will welcome them if they can be more convenient, cut down on administrative costs, and make it easier to keep information up-to-date and secure," Thomsen said.
A spokesperson for Austroads, the centralised organisation of road transport and traffic agencies, said across the ditch "the rollout has been broadly successful".
"A large portion of Australians are already using them. Most jurisdictions are now aligning with international standards to improve security and interoperability."
When is this going to happen here?
No firm date has been announced other than goals for "late 2025", but Minister for Digitising Government Judith Collins has stated a keen desire to see them launched before the end of the year.
"The main thing is not to stuff it up," she told the Sunday Star-Times recently.
Digital Officer James said the work was proceeding cautiously.
"As the Minister for Digitising Government has noted, there is currently work underway on a digital driver's licence among other potential credentials," he said.
"Agencies are aiming to finalise these as soon as possible, noting that it is important to ensure they work well before any launch."
The Regulatory Systems (Transport) Amendment Bill currently before Parliament also lays out some of the initial framework around digital licences, expanding the definition of a driver licence to include both electronic and physical versions.
How do these digital driver licences work, anyway?
Digital wallets and systems like Apple Pay have been in place for some time, and rely on much of the same technology.
The basic model is that a user signs up with an issuer, and the issuer creates and issues a digital credential which the user can present to a party seeking to verify the information. A secure token is generated that does not share the user's private details with the verifier.
James Little is acting establishment director for the Digital Identity Services Trust Framework through the Department of Internal Affairs. He explained to RNZ a bit more about how this all works.
"Credentials are held in the secure chip on a user's device (for instance in the government app) and therefore is in their sole control," he said.
"The issuer and wallet provider have no ability to view a user's credentials. Only the user can view or present the credential.
"This means no new central database is created, nothing is stored in the cloud, and therefore security is greatly improved."
For instance, if a rental car company was verifying a digital driver licence, or a police officer needed to see a person's licence, they would use their own device to verify the credential on the user's phone.
"Digital credentials will be stored securely on a person's own device," Chief Digital Officer James said, and require authentication like face or touch ID to use.
"This ensures individuals remain in control of their information and when it is shared. If a device is lost, the credentials would need to be reissued by the issuing agency, just as with a lost physical document."
How do we trust those credentials?
The Government's Digital Identity Services Trust Framework is meant to provide a standard for safety and accreditation of providers, using established worldwide settings.
"This ensures we create a digital identity environment that is safe and trusted," James said.
That framework "mandates the use of international standards for digital credentials", Little said.
The Government's app and wallet are being built on what's known as the ISO/IEC 18013-5 standard for mobile driver licences and ISO 23220 for other mobile documents.
Yes, that's a lot of letters and numbers, but basically what you need to know is ISO is the International Organisation for Standardisation, an independent non-governmental group that sets global standards for everything from food safety to climate emissions, while IEC is the International Electrotechnical Commission.
"These ISO/IEC standards are published, stable, and have undergone extensive global interoperability testing and real-world adoption," Little said, noting they were developed through a "rigorous, consensus-based international process".
"They have also been embraced by both Apple and Google who cover almost the entirety of the smartphone market, confirming that the technical implementation pathway is practical, available, and usable now by a vast majority of the public."
Credentials can be used in person or online, and can be used device to device without internet connectivity.
"The issuer of the credential (for instance, a government agency) is not aware of when a user presents their credential, again enabling the privacy-preserving elements," Little said. "However, that issuer can suspend or revoke credentials at any time."
It's all about trust
"For digital licences to be successful, their security will need to be strong while still being user-friendly for everyday use by drivers. Striking this balance will be the key challenge for the officials working on creating a system here," the AA's Thomsen said.
The NZ Verify app was launched earlier this year and can now be used to verify mobile driver licences for visitors from Australia and the United States and other digital credentials, with an eye to it being expanded to verify NZ mobile licences in the future.
In Australia when setting up their own licences, "the key concern has been ensuring strong security and public trust, particularly around identity protection and fraud prevention", the Austroads spokesperson said.
Austroads has also been in the lead of developing a Digital Trust Service that would better link those ISO standards across jurisdictions to ensure mobile licences could be easily verified worldwide.
"The Digital Trust Service is designed to enable secure verification of mDLs (mobile driver licences) not only between Australia and New Zealand but also with other countries that adopt the same internationally recognised standards," the spokesperson said.
"By aligning on these global standards, New Zealand's digital licences can be seamlessly and securely verified across multiple jurisdictions, facilitating reliable and efficient cross-border recognition."
Is this just the beginning of digital government services?
That's what the Government is hoping.
It sees digital driver licences as one of the first big steps toward the "all-in-one" government app which could eventually be used for everything from car registration to Inland Revenue to birth, death and marriage certificates.
The Government announced last week that the Chief Digital Officer would lead digital investment and procurement decisions, saying the centralised approach could save up to $3.9 billion on the Government's projected $13b public sector technology spend in the next five years.
"Siloed, bespoke technology solutions will be a thing of the past," Collins said in making the announcement. "Our target is a citizen-focused, digital-first public service like we see in other leading digital nations.
"Countries such as Estonia achieve significant, ongoing savings and productivity benefits thanks to their efficient digitised public services; our changes will set New Zealand up to emulate those successes."
The Chief Digital Officer would "develop and deliver a range of key digital tools on behalf of agencies, including the NZ Government App which will allow New Zealanders to receive secure notifications from government agencies", Collins said.
"It will also allow people to store their digital identity documents, choose who they share them with and, in future, make payments for government services from their phones."
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi launched its own app recently that delivers transport-specific functions such as paying vehicle registration, although the app is not expected to host driver licences, which would instead be part of a broader government app.
"We expect that the Digital Driver Licence (DDL) will be available through a range of secure digital wallets which meet international standards of security, privacy, and interoperability," a spokesperson for the agency said.
"The NZTA app will continue to allow people to view key licence details and to manage aspects of related license data, e.g. your contact details."
While the Government hopes to gradually centralise services on its all-in-one app, individual credentials will still be issued by whatever agency is involved.
"It's important to note that neither the GCDO nor the app itself will issue credentials," James said. "Each credential will continue to be issued by the relevant government agency, or by accredited private sector providers (for example the Kiwi Access Card or drivers' licence).
"In some instances, government agencies may require regulatory changes to enable them to issue a digital version of their credentials, and those decisions remain with the agencies themselves.
"We are collaborating with a range of government agencies and private sector providers whose credentials will be available through the app, these will be communicated once they are finalised."
But what if I don't want to go digital?
The Government has repeatedly said these apps will not be mandatory, so hard copies of driver licences won't be going away any time soon.
Digital driver licences are designed to be fully functional offline, the NZTA spokesperson said.
Still, that wouldn't help if a user lost or damaged their phone and was asked to show their licence.
"We anticipate physical licences will continue to be issued and used for a long time to come," Transport Minister Chris Bishop has said.
There are also still many people without easy access to digital technologies or who may live in areas with limited internet capability.
"We know there are people who cannot or do not want to access services digitally," James said.
"Use of the All-of-Government app will always be optional, and agencies are responsible for ensuring people can access services in a range of ways and will continue to do so."
There's certainly suspicion in certain corners of social media about these digital services – Collins' recent post about the app on X drew a slew of negative comments and claims about "electronic spy weapons" and "globalist agendas".
New Zealand First has also expressed qualms about digital identification becoming mandatory, despite there being no plans to have that happen.
Leader Winston Peters has introduced a member's bill, the Identification (Protection of Physical Identification Methods) Bill, that would require that organisations still accept passports, driver licences, 18+ cards, school IDs, and other prescribed physical documents whenever proof of age or identity is required, or face a fine.
It's similar in nature to another New Zealand First proposal to protect the use of cash as digital transactions rise. Member's bills must be first drawn from the random ballot to be considered.
"This is not about rejecting technology or digital progress. It's about ensuring Kiwis retain the freedom to verify their identity without sacrificing their privacy," Peters said.
"This isn't anti-digital. It's about putting people in control of their personal information. We're offering common sense guard-rails against digital overreach."
While there are concerns about privacy and security, the chief digital officer said Aotearoa was ready for licences to be offered digitally.
"Our public research has shown there is strong demand for this kind of service, particularly among New Zealanders who interact regularly with multiple government agencies, such as busy families," James said.
The examples seen by Australia and elsewhere also offer a firm road map for travels here.
"The AA is hoping the government officials designing the system take a look at the various digital licence technologies used in Australian states and other places," Thomsen said.
"By identifying the best approaches overseas, we can make sure New Zealand's system is successful and easy to use."
By Nik Dirga for rnz.co.nz
SHARE ME