Apple pulls driver's license app from store amid fears it is being used to make fake IDs

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated:

An iPhone app that could be used to make fake driver's licenses has been pulled by Apple after the company was taken to task by a U.S. senator. 

The app by DriversEd.com for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad allows users to electronically insert a digital photo and personal information into a template for a driver's license for a state of their choice.

The user is then able to print off the completed template and laminate it, creating a counterfeit driver's license that resembles a legitimate one,
claim the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License and Sen Bob Casey. 

The app by DriversEd.com for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad allows users to electronically insert a digital photo and personal information into a template for a driver's license for a state of their choice

Fake ID? The app by DriversEd.com allows users to electronically insert a digital photo and personal information into a template for a driver's license for any state

Sen. Casey, D-Pennsylvania wrote to Apple CEO Tim Cook demanding that it was removed from the company's app store  'immediately', reports MSNBC.com.

He said: 'I believe this application poses a threat to public safety and national security.'

'It can be used in a way that allows criminals to create a new identity, steal someone else's identity, or permit underage youth to purchase alcohol or tobacco illegally," he said in the letter. 

'National security systems depend on the trustworthiness of driver's licenses.'according to the report. 

Taken to task: Sen. Bob Casey wrote to Apple demanding that the app was removed from the company's app store 'immediately'

Taken to task: Sen. Bob Casey wrote to Apple demanding that the app was removed from the company's app store 'immediately'

The creators of the app disagree and told MSNBC.com that it was 'specifically and deliberately designed ... to prevent the creation of counterfeit identification.'

The company says that since 2009, the free app, which it says is more about driving laws than fake licenses, 'has allowed users to put their faces on a low-res mockup of their state's license. The app is a digital-age version of using a photo booth at the beach.'

Any license created with the app 'cannot be mistaken for a fake ID because the design elements deliberately do not correspond to government issued ID.' and because it is of such low resolution. 

Criminal use: Users are able to print off the license template and laminate it, creating a counterfeit driver's license claims the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License

Criminal use: Users are able to print off the license template and laminate it, creating a counterfeit driver's license claim critics

'By design, it would take more effort and expertise to modify the product of the DriversEd.com 'Driver License' app than to construct a counterfeit from scratch,' said Gary Tsifrin, DriversEd.com founder and chief operating officer, in a statement to MSNBC.com.

DriversEd.com said they would appeal Apple's decision.

'We believe Apple pulled the app prematurely,' the company said in a statement.

'We hope ... Apple will take one more look at the DriversEd.com 'Driver license' app.'

The app is still available for Android phones.

Apple

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