GRIMES, Iowa — According to the Iowa Department of Transportation, Mobile IDs will allow residents to manage their identity in ways that they previously haven’t been able to.
Toni Smith is the Merging Technology Program Manager for the DOT. She said that the new technology is a secure, digitized version of the state-issued license or identification card.
Iowa residents can download the Mobile ID app onto their smartphone. Then, scan your identification card into the app. Once your identity is confirmed, you can use the app at businesses that accept the technology.
Central Iowa Vapors is one of the businesses that currently accept the new technology.
“The nice thing is, they’re doing a great job of ensuring that it can’t be shared,” said Ashley Hartman, Central Iowa Vapor’s Chief Strategy Officer, “You can’t screenshot the barcode. It’s, I would say, a pretty safe technology.”
The technology is optional for residents to use and also optional for businesses to accept. A list of all the businesses across the state that allow Mobile ID is now available on the DOT’s website.
