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Tag: bob casey

  • Maker of Maligned ID-making App Fires Back At Apple

    Yesterday, we reported about a drivers license-making app that was yanked from Apple’s App Store due to a stern letter written by Senator Bob Casey (D-PA). Casey echoed the concerns previously stated by D. Brian Zimmer, president of Coalition for a Secure Drivers License, and warned Apple that the app called Drivers License, developed by the company DriversEd.com, could be used for illegal activities ranging from under-age purchasing of alcohol to aiding terrorism. Apple had ignored Zimmer’s complaint but didn’t so much like the heat from Casey’s letter and pulled the app from their store shortly thereafter.

    It’s worth remembering that this app was available for over two years before Apple nixed the app from their store earlier this week. Not exactly classy or consistent, but it’s their store and they can do what they want to.

    Today, DriversEd.com founder and COO Gary Tsifrin had some terse words about the app’s removal and has provided a pretty convincing beginners guide to dpi (dots per inch, which is a measurement of quality among printers) to Apple and Senator Casey.

    Tsifrin dismissed the concerns of Casey and Zimmer as unfounded and over-zealous, remarking that “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.” He continued his defense of the app, saying that their intentions were far from encouraging a new cottage industry of fake drivers licenses because the app deliberately included license designs that “do not correspond to government-issued IDs.”

    In a statement released in response to the app’s removal, DriversEd.com explained:

    The DriversEd.com “Driver License” app’s output is only 72 dpi, which is in fact the same resolution as the $10,000 Mitt Romney Bill released today by the Democratic National Committee. DriversEd.com specifically and deliberately designed the app to prevent the creation of counterfeit identification.

    Good point. If the fake drivers licenses are so believable, according to Senator Casey and Apple’s understanding of dpi, then nobody should notice tonight when I use my Romney cash to pay for everybody’s dinner. Neat!

    The press release goes into further detail about the design functions purposely set in place to prevent any of the IDs from being passed off as the real thing:

    The product of using the DriversEd.com “Driver License” app cannot be mistaken for a fake ID because the design elements deliberately do not correspond to government issued ID. DriversEd.com designed the app to incorporate obvious layout differences, font and color discrepancies, and the words “MOCK by DriversEd.com” in proximity to the word “license.” The DriversEd.com “Driver License” app contains none of the security features of a modern government issued ID. (For the security features modern driver’s licenses contain and a brief, non-comprehensive inventory of the ways the DriversEd.com app did not incorporate those features, please see the fact sheet on DriversEd.com.) The app was carefully designed to provide a fun glimpse of what it would look like to have a driver’s license of your own from any of the fifty states, but a deliberately inaccurate version. That’s why DriversEd.com offered it for free, and marketed it in the “Game Zone” on the DriversEd.com site.

    I suppose it’s understandable that Zimmer or Senator Casey wouldn’t bother to check the picture quality specs of the images produced by Drivers License – it’s not exactly their area of expertise. But Apple? Apple. C’mon, Apple. You’re supposed to check these things! You shouldn’t be getting schooled this easily.

    But as far as Apple is concerned, Tsifrin remained magnanimous despite believing that “Apple pulled the app prematurely.” He hopes that the app will be considered for re-inclusion in the App Store.

  • Apple Pulls Fake ID-making App From Store

    Apple Pulls Fake ID-making App From Store

    For a while there, becoming someone else was extraordinarily easier thanks to a new app available for iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touches. Unfortunately, that window of opportunity to experience the illicit joys of fraud and underage alcohol-buying is now gone thanks to some (unsurprising) high profile criticism recently aimed at Apple that led to the subsequent removal of said app.

    The app, concisely titled “Drivers License,” allowed users to insert their own photo into a driver’s license template from one of any of the fifty United States. The app developer, DriversEd.com, described the app as such: “Take a picture with friends, and go crazy! You can change all the personal info too, so the possibilities are endless. When you’re done, just email your licenses or send them to Facebook for easy sharing!”

    Yes. Go crazy. I’m sure this app wouldn’t have caused any problems. At all.

    Despite being marketed as a just-for-kicks app, the incredible ease with which users could fabricate fake IDs created some legitimate concern with among some serious folk. First, the president of the Coalition for a Secure Drivers License, D. Brian Zimmer, sent a letter to Scott Forstall, Senior Vice President of iPhone Software, expressing his objection to the app’s existence and requesting that it be removed from the App Store. In the letter, Zimmer details all of the potential ways that one could use the fabricated licences created by the app, such as underage purchasing of tobacco products and alcohol, faking employment eligibility, concealing one’s conviction as a sex offender, and even abetting terrorist activity.

    Apple appears to have responded with a resounding no-response because Zimmer’s letter was sent to Forstall all the way back in April but the app was still in the App Store as of this past weekend. Incredibly, that means the app was available for an entire eight months after the original removal request (I know what you’re thinking because I, too, am bewildered that this app was available for so long and now lament the missed possibilities to “go crazy” with new IDs that would have been used purely for entertainment purposes). More perplexing is that this app has actually been available for over two years. How was this overlooked? Unreal. However, Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) took up the cause and wrote a letter to Apple’s new CEO, Tim Cook. Again citing concerns of national security, Casey implored Cook to remove the app :

    While DriversEd.com markets the app as a fun game, it can also 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. National security systems depend on the trustworthiness of driver’s licenses, yet with a counterfeit license created by this app, a terrorist could bypass identity verification by the Transportation Security Administration, or even apply for a passport.

    While identity fraud is not a new problem, the use of readily available technology to facilitate this crime is of particular concern. By assisting in the creation of counterfeit driver’s licenses, “License” threatens to ease deception by criminals and contribute to the rising problem of identity theft. Given these risks, I request that you remove this application from the App Store immediately, as well as any other available applications that allow users to create, steal or alter false identities. Thank you for your time and consideration.

    Casey evidently has more clout with Apple than Zimmer because, as of today, the Drivers License app is nowhere to be found in Apple’s App Store. However, Zimmer graciously applauds Casey’s success in having the app removed:

    I applaud Senator Casey’s efforts. Apple has a responsibility to its users to ensure that its technology does not facilitate crime. Counterfeit driver’s licenses are not novelties. They present a very real risk to public safety and national security. Apple should have had measures in place to prevent the ‘License’ application from ever making it to the App Store. Apple Corporation’s lack of action to pull this application when I first notified them in April, 2011, of its risk to public safety was dismaying. Apple should establish a careful policy of reviewing applications for the App Store that might lead to a child’s injury through inappropriate use. The License App presents a clear risk to public safety.

    I can’t really blame Apple for the quick response to Casey’s request, but at the same time, if you’re D. Brian Zimmer, you’ve gotta be feeling a little slighted about Apple resolutely ignoring your request from eight months ago. So it goes. And I guess it’s back to the old tactics of exacto knives and gorilla glue for you ambitious under-18-year-olds trying to dupe the system into believing that you’re actually 25.