Apple pulls app for creating fake US driver's license

For over two years, the free "License" app by DriversEd.com has occupied a spot in the App Store. The app, which was meant as a way to create joke IDs on an iPhone or iPad, allowed users to put a digital photo and biographic information into a driver's license template for any of the 50 United States. Now US Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, acting on a complaint by the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License, has successfully had the License app pulled from the App Store.

As reported by MacRumors, the concern from the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License was that someone could use the app to create a fake driver's license, then email the image of the completed template to a computer where it could be printed and laminated. Casey's letter to Apple noted that "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."

Casey went on to express his concern that in using a counterfeit license created by License, "a terrorist could bypass identity verification by the Transportation Security Administration, or even apply for a passport."

The Coalition for a Secure Driver's License had sent a letter in April to Apple senior vice president for iOS software Scott Forstall asking for removal of the app. Apple didn't respond to that request, but quickly pulled the app when requested by Senator Casey.