Digital Driver’s Licenses Approved for Launch Next Month

Yesterday at the online Amazon Web Service Summit Korea, Seunghan Lee from LG U+, a major Korean ISP, announced that their blockchain-based digital driver’s license and customer service systems will be launched next month. Approved users will be able to use a mobile app as their driver’s license with law enforcement authorities and at companies that operate services requiring a driver’s license. The program was developed jointly by LG U+, KT, and SK Telecom.

Digital drivers licenses cannot be forged nor stolen, potentially making them a highly desirable option for many. Blockchain technology has played a part in the development of this project since a blockchain will be used to verify the authenticity of the data between a user’s app and the central server. This launch will be a major step forward for the burgeoning DID field which has become a bona fide trend across South Korea this year with other major telecoms and tech companies getting in on it.

The joint development team from three major South Korean ISP’s gained approval from the Ministry of Science and ICT last September to test their program with the intent of national distribution. Following the blessing from the government, they signed an agreement with the National Police Agency and the Korea Highway Traffic Authority to guarantee their finished product would be implemented with the assistance of police.

The digital driver’s license will be integrated into the common telecoms ID authorizing app known as PASS which is used by 26 million individuals nationwide, according to Lee. Via the app, individual users and police authorities can scan a barcode or QR code next to the user’s photo to gain access to pertinent information related to their driver’s license. Not all the information of the real driver’s license will display in the app to maintain the obligation of users to obtain a physical driver’s license before applying for the new digital driver’s license program.

For private companies requiring verification of driving qualifications, such as vehicle sharing services, companies can scan the QR code or barcode via PASS to immediately determine the validity of the driver’s license. Private companies that may use the driver’s license information could potential extend to cryptocurrency exchanges in the future for the purpose of KYC or transaction verification. No longer would users be required to send their sensitive information to an unknown third party since the government has already digital authenticated a user’s identity with the DID app.

The undoubted convenience of the digital driver’s license is one objective benefit of the program but the most technically impactful aspect of it is in providing anti-forgery capabilities. The anti-forgery system can safely and quickly verify the authenticity of license information via blockchain. In addition, it highlights one of the general benefits of integrating blockchain technology into an existing system. Blockchain has frequently been shown to increase the speed of administrative systems and reduce their costs overall with its ability to nearly instantly verify document validity with a hash rather than a human cross-check.

The system functions in a simple and streamlined way. First, users must take a picture of their driver’s license that must be checked for authenticity by the National Police Agency and road Traffic Authority. Those two law enforcement arms can obtain license status information on individuals nationally. After authentication is complete, the hash-encrypted verification data is stored on the closed blockchain. Changes to a physical driver’s license must be re-authenticated via the app. Finally, driver’s license information can be checked via mobile app scans of a QR code or barcode.

The huge consortium of South Korean telecoms giants is not the only entity developing such a service. Samsung is developing a similar program for their own users to function much in the same way as the latest one will. No word yet on how far along Samsung’s program is, but chances are they will not be far behind in order to stay competitive.

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