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Your business and the Digital Licence app

If your business or organisation needs to verify customer information (such as age, identity, authority to drive or other details), your customer may use the Digital Licence app to present this information to you.

The Digital Licence is legally equivalent to the physical licence under Queensland law.

You don't need to purchase any specific equipment to verify the Digital Licence.

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We know Queenslanders want to keep their ID safe and secure on their mobile device.

The Digital Licence is optional and opt-in and Queenslanders will still be sent physical cards, so you'll see a mix of physical and digital licences.

The Digital Licence app can be easily incorporated into your usual business practices using a simple visual check, the Digital Licence Verifier app, another ISO-compliant verifier app, or by sharing a PDF copy of the Digital Licence.

If you are visually checking your customers' Digital Licence, there are a few things to look out for.

The Queensland Coat of Arms will be pulsating behind their details, growing larger and smaller. The person conducting a visual check can also ask the licence holder to reveal their credentials by scrolling down on their phone screen. This will reveal their other licence details.

You can also ask the licence holder to refresh their credentials by asking them to back out to the home screen and then pull down from the top, assuming internet is available. The app will display 'Fetching your credentials'.

Once complete, check their credential again and you will see that the date has been refreshed. This will ensure the credential is fully up to date and is the best visual checking option without using a verifier app, if they are concerned the licence is fraudulent

For transactions where you require a high level of confidence in your customer's identity or if you suspect a digital licence may be fraudulent, we recommend verifying it via the Verifier app.

You can use the Queensland Digital Licence Verifier app which is free to download from your app store, or another ISO-compliant verifier app.

You don't need any special equipment or technology to use it - just a mobile phone or tablet.

The QR code generated by the Digital Licence app is secure and contains no personal information. It can only be read by another digital licence app or verifier app.

You will not be able to use your phone's camera to scan or verify the QR code as you do for other QR codes.  Using the Queensland Digital Licence Verifier app, or another ISO-compliant verifier app, ensures the verification process is secure and can be trusted.

You can verify age, address, identity and licence validity with confidence using the Verifier app.

To download the app, search digital licence verifier in your app store and look for the Queensland Digital Licence Verifier icon.

Once the app is downloaded, open it up. You don't need a login so you can begin using the Verifier app straight away. The identification information is shared via Bluetooth so sharing can occur even when there is no phone signal or internet coverage. You will need to make sure your Bluetooth is switched on.

Legislation was passed in July 2020 making the Digital Licence the legal equivalent of the physical licence under Queensland law. Your customer can share their details with you by selecting the appropriate sharing bundle on their Digital Licence - for example, prove they are over 18.

Your customer will present a QR code to you. Use the Verifier app to scan the code to verify their details. The details they have chosen and consented to share with you will appear on your device for a limited time.

You should not handle your customer's device when checking or verifying.

The user's phone and the Verifier app will show the user's information being transferred.

In the case where you need to keep a copy of the driver licence for your records, your customer can send you a printable, digitally-signed PDF from their Digital Licence app.

They simply select Share a printable copy then agree to consent when prompted. Then send it to you via their device's native sharing options like email.

However you will not be able to share a PDF copy by email if there is no int ernet coverage.

You'll know the PDF is genuine and hasn't been tampered with because you will see a green tick in the top left corner with a message saying signed and all signatures valid.

By clicking the signature panel button in the top right of your screen, you can view the signature details including signature validity and date last checked.

You may need to check Adobe is set up so the digital signature on the PDF can be verified. You can find instructions on how to do this on the Digital Licence app website.

If the PDF has been tampered with, you will see one of the following: a warning icon in the top left corner with a message saying at least one signature has problems; a warning icon in the top left corner with a message saying Signed and all signatures are valid but with unsigned changes after the last signature, or no banner across the top indicating the PDF has not been signed and is not a genuine Digital Licence app PDF.

For more details on checking a PDF copy for validity visit the Digital Licence webpage at qld.gov.au/digitallicence.

Now you're ready to verify the identity of your fellow Queenslanders, physically or digitally, anytime, anywhere, even when there is no internet.

View larger image Screenshot of the Digital Licence app share screen, with a person\'s photo, a green tick and text saying they are over 18, a QR code and a timer showing 19 seconds. Enlarge image

Using the Digital Licence to verify information

Scanning the Digital Licence

You can use a device to scan a customer's Digital Licence and get the information you need. This is the safest and most secure way to verify your customer's information.

Let the customer know which sharing bundle to share with you. They can select that option in their app and present it to you. Their screen will display their photo and a QR code. You can then scan the QR code with your device.

There are two ways to scan the customer's QR code:

  • using your Digital Licence app
  • using the Verifier for Digital Licence app.

Using your Digital Licence app to scan

You may have the Digital Licence app installed on your device, with your credentials and identity in the app.

  • Select the scan option from the bottom of the app's home screen.
  • This will bring up a camera, which you can use to scan the QR code.
  • The 2 apps will communicate and you will see the information the customer has shared with you.
  • You can check this information as needed.
  • Once you have finished, select 'X' to return to the Digital Licence home screen.
Verifier for Digital Licence app icon

Using the Verifier for Digital Licence to scan

The Verifier for Digital Licence is a standalone app we have developed to scan ISO-compliant Digital Licence QR codes. The app is available to download from the Google and Apple app stores. You don't need a log in or account to use the verifier app.

When you are using the verifier app to scan your customer’s Digital Licence, follow these steps:

  • Ask your customer to select a sharing bundle and present their app to you.
  • Scan the QR code displayed on your customer's screen with your verifier app.
  • The 2 apps will communicate and you will see the information the customer has shared with you.
  • You can check this information as needed.
View larger image Screenshot of the Digital Licence credential screen, showing a person’s photo, their name, relevant details, a Share licence button at the bottom of the screen. Enlarge image

Visually checking the Digital Licence

You or your staff can visually check a customer's information by asking them to show you their digital licence.

The Digital Licence contains visual features to help you identify that it is current and genuine.

All of these features should appear on the customer's Digital Licence. If they are not present, you are not looking at a genuine Digital Licence.

1. 'Information was refreshed online' date and time

  • This is displayed beneath the user's picture and shows the last date and time that the app was opened and updated.
  • The app updates every time it is opened, if data service is available.
  • If this date and time is far in the past, and you know that data service is available where you are, you can ask a customer to return to the Digital Licence home screen, and pull down on the screen of their device. This action should update their information, and the 'Information was refreshed online' date and time should become current. The customer will also need to ensure they have turned data on in their settings for the Digital Licence app.
  • If they are not able to return to the home screen, you may be looking at a fake image and not the live Digital Licence app.

2. Pulsing Queensland Government crest

  • A light grey version of the Queensland Government crest should be displayed behind the user's information and should be pulsating (regularly changing in size between larger and smaller).
  • If this image is not moving, you are looking at a fake image and not the live Digital Licence app.

3. Ability to scroll to see information

  • Generally not all information will display on a single screen on a device.
  • The user should be able to scroll up and down within the credential screen to show you that all of the fields are present.

You should only use a visual check for low-risk verification. Although it is the quickest method of verifying a customer's Digital Licence, the other methods are more secure.

Storing information from the Digital Licence (PDF document)

The Digital Licence app allows the customer to export their information as a PDF document. This document contains all the information on a physical driver licence, including name, date of birth, licence number and address.

  • Ask the customer to use their app to share their licence (or other credential) as a PDF.
  • The customer can then transfer the PDF document to you using SMS, email or any other native sharing function on their device.

Please note: At the top of the PDF, directly above the user’s photo, there is a line stating when the document was generated and digitally signed, with a date and time. This is the date and time that the user onboarded, securely reset, or last had their information change within the app.

It does not get updated when the user selects the printable copy sharing bundle, which means it could be a date/time that is not recent. If you have any concerns, please visually check the information in the PDF against their Digital Licence app screen.

PDF documents shared from the Digital Licence app are 'signed' using a secure electronic certificate. This signature can be validated to ensure the PDF provided by the customer is legitimate and from the original creator of the PDF. The original creator is the Department of Transport and Main Roads.

Validating the PDF

You will need to go through a series of steps in order to validate that the Digital Licence PDF which has been provided to you is genuine. You will only need to go through steps once, and you will then be able to validate all Digital Licence PDFs.

Before you open the PDF:

  • Open Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  • Click Edit, and then Preferences.
  • In the window that appears, select Trust Manager.
  • In the main window, the third option will be ‘Automatic Adobe Approved Trust List (AATL updates)’. In this box, ensure ‘Load trusted certificates from an Adobe AATL server’ is ticked, and click ‘Update Now’.
  • In a few moments, a window will come up saying ‘Security settings have been successfully updated.’ Click OK in the bottom right corner.
  • In the left column, select Signatures.
  • In the main window, you will see a box titled Verification. Click the ‘More...’ button in that box.
  • At the top, tick the box next to ‘Verify signatures when the document is opened’.
  • Click OK, and then OK again.

Open the PDF.

When the PDF is open, after a few moments, you should see a blue bar at the top that says ‘Signed and all signatures are valid.’

In the blue bar, click ‘Signature Panel’. In the Signatures panel that appears, you should see, ‘Rev. 1: Signed by Department of Transport and Main Roads <dlpki@qld.gov.au>’.

This means the PDF is a valid export of a customer’s driver licence, marine licence or photo identification card.

If you encounter an altered PDF please follow your usual business processes for customers using a false ID.

If you want to integrate the Digital Licence into your existing systems to capture and store customer information, please contact digitallicence@tmr.qld.gov.au to discuss your options with the project team.

How do I know the information presented by the Digital Licence is authentic and correct?

The safest, most secure way to verify your customer's information is to use the Scan function in the Digital Licence or Verifier for Digital Licence apps. The information in the app is protected by a range of security and privacy measures, so you can have confidence that the information you are looking at is correct.

If a customer's Digital Licence is not scanning or you suspect it is fake, you cannot take possession of their mobile phone. You can request a PDF copy, sight or scan the Digital Licence without touching their phone.

Last updated:
30 October 2024
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