US launches PKI system to make mobile driver’s licenses interoperable, easy to use

The Digital Trust Service being set up by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) to ease the use of mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs) has its first two participating states.

Utah and Maryland are the first to sign on, with more jurisdictions expected to join them soon, according to the AAMVA’s announcement.

The Digital Trust Service (DTS) operates a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for relying parties to use in authenticating the identity or other attributes of mDL holders. The system verifies that the digital ID is legitimate, and provides assurance to mDL holders and other stakeholders that international standards for privacy, security and interoperability are being adhered to.

A dozen states have issued mDLs they say are compliant with the relevant standards.

AAMVA has published implementation guidelines for states considering issuing mDLs, and refers to the ISO/IEC 18013-5 standard for mDL interoperability with the readers used by relying parties. The standard also sets out the Verified Issuer Certificate Authority List as a source for the public keys from state DMVs that relying parties use, similar to how ICAO’s PKD functions for passports. Issuing authorities pay no fees to participate, at least for now.

“This onboarding process provides the level of security assurance necessary to foster confidence in the DTS as the single best source to confirm the veracity of a digital identity credential,” says Ian Grossman, AAMVA President and CEO. “Using the DTS, relying parties need only go to one source to obtain the keys to validate the authenticity of an mDL, as opposed to having to work with 69 separate North American jurisdictions.”

The Digital Trust Service has been in the works since at least late-2021, and AAMVA DTS Steering Committee Chair Eric Jorgensen provided an update on the initiative’s progress in a webinar on the role of DMVs in America’s digital ID ecosystem last year.

AAMVA Identity Management Program Specialist Lori Daigle collaborated with GET Group on a lunch and learn on the DTS for relying parties in Utah on Monday. GET Group is a technology provider for Utah’s mDLs, along with Scytáles and face biometrics and liveness developer FaceTec.

Notably, FaceTec has just added long-time AAMVA Director of Identity Management Geoff Slagle to be its EVP of digital identity as the company addresses the growing American mDL market.

Maryland’s mDL is available on Apple Wallet, and is supported by Thales.

California, meanwhile, has advanced an mDL pilot for 0.5 percent of state driver’s licenses holders to a second stage involving 1.5 million participants, GovTech reports. Arizona was up to 900,000 issued at the beginning of April. An AAMVA representative told GovTech that the organization expects many more mDL deployments across the U.S. this year.

Article Topics

AAMVA  |  AAMVA Digital Trust Service  |  digital ID  |  Digital Trust Service (DTS)  |  driver's license  |  ICAO PKD  |  interoperability  |  ISO 18013-5  |  Maryland  |  mDL (mobile driver's license)  |  PKI  |  United States  |  Utah