Mobile Driver’s License Initiative
People use driver’s licenses every day in a myriad of ways. While the license primarily represents a privilege to drive vehicles, it is seldom presented for that purpose. The driver’s license also indicates confirmation of legal name, age, and contact information in the physical world. Far more often, it is shown at retailers, businesses and other establishments to verify age to enter a club or to purchase alcohol or tobacco, to confirm identity at a hotel, to provide an address when cashing a check, or to prove identity for security purposes.
Having a standards-based mobile form of digital identity that offers the same trust as a state-issued physical driver’s license – a mobile driver’s license (mDL) – brings greater utility, convenience, and security benefits for driver’s license holders while managing their daily lives.
The mDL market is developing rapidly, with more than a dozen states in varying stages of implementation and with a draft International standard (ISO 18013-5) being finalized. mDLs store a digital version of a physical driver’s license or non-driver ID card on a mobile device for use as an official form of government-issued identity in online and in-person environments. mDLs can have a significant impact on identity verification by providing a proven mobile ID that can strongly authenticate identities to a variety of relying parties.
mDL Initiative Goals and Activities
To drive adoption of mDLs, businesses and services providers who rely on customers having trusted forms of identification – from retailers and financial institutions to healthcare providers and other organizations – need to become educated on mDLs and evaluate how they could benefit from a strongly vetted, standards-based mobile ID.
The Secure Technology Alliance mobile driver’s license initiative was launched to raise awareness, support development, accelerate adoption, and educate the U.S. market on the technology and applications for state-issued mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs). The goals of Secure Technology Alliance mDL initiative are to:
- Provide resources to educate relying parties in the U.S. market on the rollout of the technology and the key uses for mDLs
- Provide guidance on the security of mDLs and the methods deployed for authenticating mobile IDs
- Facilitate discussions of implementation opportunities and challenges for broader adoption
The Alliance initiative includes participation from AAMVA, driver’s license technology providers, mobile technology providers, security providers, testing organizations, and relying parties including retailers, financial institutions and government security agencies. Current planned activities are industry-focused workshops and webinars, and educational resources on mDLs and their use cases.
mDL Resources
The following resources provide additional information on mDLs:
- mDLConnection.com. A Secure Technology Alliance information portal for the resources and materials necessary for relying parties to understand what mDL technology is, where it can be used, and what the considerations are for implementation.
- Identity on a Mobile Device, Secure Technology Alliance webinar providing a high-level overview of the standards-based mobile driver’s licenses being implemented in the U.S.
- The Mobile Driver’s License (mDL) and Ecosystem, This Identity Council white paper provides an overview of ISO/IEC 18013-5-compliant mDLs, the ecosystem supporting mDLs, and the challenges to building the mDL ecosystem.
- Secure Technology Alliance Mobile Driver’s Licenses for Retail Uses Workshop Proceedings [Alliance members only – login required], presentations and report from July 2019 workshop
- AAMVA mDL publications: Mobile Driver’s License Functional Needs Whitepaper
Join the Alliance Initiative
Participation in the Secure Technology Alliance mDL initiative is open to Alliance members and relying parties. Contact [email protected] for additional information on the initiative and membership.