New Anti-ID Theft AZ Drivers Licenses

New License Format

Effective this week, Arizona drivers licenses will have a new look. Ours don’t expire until 2015, but we can expect to get this format when we renew. I like the fact that the word “VETERAN,” if appropriate, is prominently displayed on the face of the license.

Via Arizona Highways Blog and ADOT:

Effective this week, Arizona has a new driver’s license that our bosses at the Arizona Department of Transportation say will offer better protection against identity theft.

Among the most notable changes: a new font for the word “Arizona” at the top of the license; a larger portrait, along with a duplicated “ghost” portrait; an Arizona-shaped laser perforation; and a new background image.

On the latter, gone is the Grand Canyon panorama that defined Arizona’s previous driver’s license. In its place is a collage of unique Arizona features, such as geologic formations, a saguaro and a ringtail (the state mammal). The image employs a technique called Guilloché innovative symmetry; an ADOT release says the technique consists of “intricate, repetitive patterns that are interwoven to guard against counterfeiting, altering or other fraudulent use, making for a more secure credential.”

There’s no need to rush out and get a new license; your old one will still be good until it expires.

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