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VICTORIA — The B.C. government is developing an app that will allow people to tap their new high-tech driver’s licences against their smartphones to authenticate their identity and securely log into government websites and services.

“You download the app, you put your card on your phone and it reads it,” Bette-Jo Hughes, B.C.’s chief information officer, said in an interview.

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“We’ve got that for Android operating systems now, we’re still working on the Apple version of that because the Apple operating system isn’t open to allow us to do that. But we’re working on that, and thinking in the next year we’ll be able to do that.”

The goal, said Hughes, is to one day have a system where B.C. residents can tap their cards, type in a PIN number, and instantly access secure government services like their personal eHealth medical records, drug prescriptions, driver’s licence histories and school records. It would also allow access to government records like land title documents and court services. It has also been touted as a possible way to verify someone’s identity if the province considers electronic voting in the future.