The first hypothesis is a digital driver’s license The then Minister of Technological Innovation and Digital Transition, Roberto Colao announced it in 2022, and now, after a few years (in the meantime, the government has changed), it seems that the time is ripe for the dematerialization of the travel document, which is, among other things, one of the goals of the new EU directive on driving licenses that will be introduced soon. If there are no problems, the digital driving license will be available in Italy in 2024 and will be uploaded to the new electronic wallet, the IT wallet. Let’s see how it will work.
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WHAT IS A WALLET, A DIGITAL IDENTITY WALLET
IT wallet is a digital identity wallet, which will soon change our habits regarding holding and keeping documents. In summary, it’s like that “collector” of electronic identities that allows you to save one to your smartphone digital and certified copy of main identification documents so that you always have them within reach of the screen (and at hand). Initially, the IT Wallet will be able to contain an ID card, a health card, a driving license, and the European ZTP card (for those who have it), but over time, the range of supported documents will expand; for example, a voter’s card will be added. IT Wallet will not be a stand-alone application but will be integrated into IO, a utility application that has been available for some time and can be accessed via Spid or Cie.
WHEN WILL THE WALLET ARRIVE?
The timing of the experimental launch of the digital wallet, the IT wallet, promises to be quite short. Vincenzo Fortunato of the Interministerial Committee for the Digital Transition, the body that coordinates the government’s action in implementing the Italian and European digital agenda, stated in recent weeks that the IT Wallet “will soon be in the public domain,” to the extent that already between January and February 2024, a massive advertising campaign will begin to inform citizens about this innovative digital tool to start testing in the first half of the year. The hope was confirmed by Alessio Butti, Undersecretary of the Bureau of the Innovation Council, who reiterated at a recent hearing in the House that an IT wallet with an ID card and a driver’s license will be available in 2024, probably by June.
HOW WILL IT WALLET DIGITAL LICENSE WORK?
Let’s remember that nowadays everyone who drives a vehicle has to have a driver’s license with them that is currently valid and in original format because it is not allowed to show a simple copy, even if it is certified, or a dematerialized version. The law does not make exceptions, and anyone who forgets a plastic driver’s license at home faces a fine of 42 euros in the event of a check, which can, however, rise to 430 euros if you cannot prove that you have the document. Go to the relevant local station or traffic police station as soon as possible and prove it.
But with the introduction of the digital driver’s license on IT Wallet, this risk will certainly be lessened because there will always be a verified copy of the driver’s license available on your smartphone.
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Digitization of the driver’s license, as well as other necessary documents, will have further benefits because it minimizes the danger of loss, theft, or forgery. And even if the smartphone ended up in the hands of an attacker, to seize the digital identity, he would first have to unlock it and then overcome the application IO barrier protected by Spide or Cie. Extremely improbable hypotheses.
As if it weren’t enough, when the driver’s license becomes digital, a notification senses an approaching expiration, protecting the holder from forgetting and from the consequences of driving with a suspended driver’s license.