Chip-Based Driver's licenses Move Forward, But In The Slow Lane

摘要

Officials considering a move to a chip-based driver's licenses might find themselves on a path few others have taken. While El Salvador and a few states in India are among the handful of agencies already using smart card driver's licenses, with a smattering of others-notably Japan-preparing to launch programs, many others are staying with nonchip licenses. There are some signs that is changing, albeit slowly, and that smart cards may get a closer look in coming years. A major reason for that closer look is that fact that in many countries driver's licenses have a second, and at times, more important function than proving the cardholder is permitted to operate a motor vehicle. They serve as a de facto national ID card. And governments around the world, especially since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, are looking for ways to make it more difficult to use a counterfeit license to pose as someone else.