Apple’s digital ID card plan could be funded through states, taxpayers

Apple is reportedly working on allowing users in participating states to digitally store their state IDs  or driver’s licenses on their iPhone wallet. However, the multibillion-dollar company will partially rely on the respective states — and their taxpayers to fund the initiative.

According to reports, the contracts signed by Arizona, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Kentucky, give Apple a substantial amount of control over the program’s deployment. The company reportedly has ‘sole discretion’ over several aspects of the initiative, such as the launch date, the states’ marketing campaigns, device compatibility, as well as how the states publicize the initiative's performance.

The contract also requires every state to provide reasonably sufficient resources & personnel (project management, staff, and funding) to support the program on a timeline that will ultimately be determined by Apple. This will include testing out the service on various types of Apple devices as per the company’s certification requirements.

Furthermore, the states are responsible for promoting and advertising the digital ID service to people and encouraging its adoption among state and federal government members.

The tech giant has also absolved itself of any major risk by holding the respective states accountable for the accuracy of the program’s identity verification system.

Notably, all aspects of the Apple-led program will essentially be funded by taxpayers, even if they don’t own an iPhone. The contract clearly says that ‘neither Party shall owe the other Party any fee under this Agreement,’ which suggests that participating states will be using taxpayer’s tender to fund the initiative’s promotion and adoption.

In this context, having a single-platform digital ID program, which is paid for by states, may give rise to a plethora of privacy issues, the most prominent one being security. Users will be transferring private documents to their iPhones, which will make their entire identity dependent on a single device.

This type of information tracking system has the potential to become a target for manipulation and misuse, cited sources close to the matter.

Source Credits –

https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/14/22781570/apple-making-states-pay-digital-id-service