Next Generation Identity: Mobile Driver’s License Fact Sheet

In 2020, the U.S. Congress passed the REAL ID Modernization Act, allowing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to accept electronic transmission of user identity information and opening the possibility that novel digital technologies could be used to verify and maintain identity. A range of initiatives are now underway to develop technically robust, secure, interoperable, privacy protecting, and easy to use technologies to allow users to manage their digital identity information. Many of these approaches are still proof-of-concept or exploratory in nature, however, some have gained interest among state driver’s license and identity document issuers, financial service institutions, and technology developers. Mobile Driver’s License (mDL) is an early front-runner, consisting of standardized technologies and processes that enable a digital-identity ecosystem that replicates and potentially improves upon physical identity credentials.