It’s supposed to make the title transfer a breeze and help Californians avoid those tedious trips to the DMV.

Users will soon be able to claim their digital titles via the DMV’s application, track and manage them without getting to the office, according to an Avalanche blog post. The time to transfer vehicle titles drops to a few minutes using blockchain rails in the backend from two weeks via the traditional process, a DMV spokesperson said in an email. //

However, given the recent spate of Microsoft outages and other hacking reports, I am a bit nervous about digitizing without serious hard copy backups. Given how expensive cars have become and how critical having one is to people’s lives and livelihoods, extreme caution should be used before proceeding.

The unintended consequences of this move could be devastating if there are significant issues with the system.

It is also disturbing to note this move is also part of Governor Gavin Newsom’s plans to even have more control over our lives….under the banner of protections. ///

What about people who don't have smartphones, or computers, or Internet ? What happens when there is actual fraud, how do you unwind that? Do people still get paper backup copies of titles?