Hacker News Reader

Comment by joekrill | Hacker News Reader

Did you read the emails, though? They certainly don't sound like simply asking about "where they are on the mDL standard". They are asking for NDAs to be signed - why is that necessary if this is just about the progress of implementing an ISO standard?

And there's this from CA:

> The agreement I've been provided goes beyond a POC and appears to create more of a long term relationship.

View on HN

> They are asking for NDAs to be signed - why is that necessary if this is just about the progress of implementing an ISO standard?

I'd assume there's something in there about Apple sharing their product roadmap and planning, so they can get all the ducks in a row for a unified launch rather than support coming in piecemeal.

They did a reveal during the keynote of the states they are currently supporting for IDs. It is standard Apple to be secretive until the announcement.

I agree that it's interesting and useful, but the article also tries to spread some FUD about this being "Apple's standard" when it's not (with some fearmongering rhetoric around "what about Android?", "what about other competing systems we haven't heard of yet?"); it's an ISO standard for mobile driver's licenses. I'm actually surprised and pleased that Apple has decided to go with a standard instead of doing their own thing, as usual.

But the author of the article either a) can't be bothered to do some basic research about the topic she's writing about, or b) is deliberately stirring up (fake) controversy to increase engagement. Either thing is pretty bad.

Apple is super secretive about upcoming releases. They are are obviously going to ask for an NDA, otherwise they wouldn't be able to even mention things like upcoming release dates.

They asked and their request was rejected. Never hurts to ask!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com