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Keys Not Included: recovering the signing keys for US driver's license barcodes

289 points · 152 comments · Ryan5453

bob1029 · 1789635739 · focus · HN ↗
I think mDL is going to be a pretty big deal in some industries (e.g. banking). Apple announced an ecosystem around this at WWDC25. Very soon we are going to be in a world where you walk into a bank to open/maintain an account and the following occurs:
1. The bank emails/SMSes the customer a link
2. The customer takes out their iPhone, opens whatever email/messaging software & taps the link
3. The link takes the customer to a specially crafted page owned by the bank that triggers a native OS process for opening Apple Wallet and gathering requested ID details with consent.
<a href="https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2025/232" rel="nofollow">https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2025/232 <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/digital-credentials" rel="nofollow">https://www.w3.org/TR/digital-credentials
This is potentially a superior arrangement because it could eventually establish a strong cryptographic chain of trust all the way to the issuer (e.g. the State of Alabama). Right now there are some gaps in that chain but I see no reason they couldn't be closed over time.
1. vel0city · 1789650239 · focus · HN ↗
  > Very soon we are going to be in a world where you walk into a bank to open/maintain an account
  I've never in my life walked into a bank to open a bank account. I've got accounts with many different banks these days. Real banks and credit unions, not fake neo banks.
  The only times I've ever been in a bank was to get large denomination ($100s) currency, as most ATMs around me don't dispense those. And most of the time I didn't even bother going into a bank I had an account with, most will let you get cash for free with a debit card even if you don't normally do business with them.

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