State Issues New Super-Secure California Driver License

Asset Caption: The Davis Administration unveiled an all-new, super-secure California driver license. The license features several new technologies to deter identity thieves and other criminals from duplicating or manufacturing fraudulent copies.

Asset Caption: California DMV logo

Asset Caption: California DMV news release
Asset Description: Word document file

    SACRAMENTO, Calif.--July 3, 2001--The Davis Administration unveiled an all-new, super-secure California driver license today. The license features several new technologies to deter identity thieves and other criminals from duplicating or manufacturing fraudulent copies.
    By Friday, the first of the new anti-fraud driver licenses will begin showing up in the mailboxes of Californians who recently applied for or renewed their licenses. The new license has a hologram that is difficult for thieves to reproduce. It also retains most of the security features of the previous driver license, such as the secondary portrait and the magnetic stripe.
    "We want to be on the cutting-edge of protecting Californians from fraud and loss," said Secretary Maria Contreras-Sweet of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, which oversees the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). "This new license is one of the most technologically advanced cards in the entire United States."
    DMV worked with the Polaroid Corporation to develop the technology needed to make the improvements, which include:


--	An ink that changes color when viewed from different angles. Copy machines and other low-grade counterfeiting technologies simply can't do the same thing.
--	A process that allows for full-color printing of fluorescent images, which emerge under ultraviolet light. The fluorescent inks also take copiers and laser printers out of the picture.
--	A fine-line color-design printing technology similar to that used on new U.S. currency, which also hampers photocopiers and scanners.

Previously issued licenses will be replaced with the new version when they expire. Existing licenses will continue to be valid until expiration. It will take about five years before all existing licenses will be completely replaced.