Idaho may be next with mDLs

A bill has been introduced in Idaho’s state legislature by its House Transportation and Defense Committee to mandate work on an optional mDL, the Idaho Capital Sun reports.

Republican Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen argues that issuing an mDL would improve security while making traffic stops by law enforcement more efficient. Another representative raised the prospect of data breaches, but the Committee passed the resolution to introduce the bill by a 10-6 vote anyway this week.

The TSA currently accepts REAL ID-compliant mDLs from 14 states and Puerto Rico, with the recent addition of Virginia. There are more than 230 airports across North America with biometric credential authentication technology scanners, CAT-2s supplied by Idemia, and TSA plans to reach 400 U.S. airports in the future.

Mickelsen says that counting states with mDLs currently in development, close to three-quarters of states are at least partway to issuing digital IDs.

Wave of adoption in 2025?

In one of his last official acts as President, Joe Biden issued a robust executive order (EO) that instructed federal agencies that issue grants to consider supporting states in the development of mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs).

There are 15 states that have issued mDLs so far, and their adoption has been more of a Sunday drive than a road race. Recent activities, from the standardization noted above to pilots and hackathons around the world, however, have kept some pressure on the gas pedal.

Biometric Update hosted a webinar in December that discussed how the new standard for online transactions with mDLs sets up a potential wave of adoption for 2025. Managing Editor Chris Burt, Kantara Initiative Board Chair and FaceTec executive Andrew Hughes and NIST Identity Management Specialist Ryan Galluzzo examined the ISO/IEC 18013 standard and its implications for the integration and interoperability of mobile driver’s licenses.

Major mDL showcase coming to San Diego

The scope of mDL’s potential will be on display at the Identity and Access Forum’s Mobile Driver’s License Technology Showcase, taking place on February 24, 2025 in tandem with the 2025 Identity & Payments Summit in San Diego, California.

A release says the event promises to “bring together key stakeholders to demonstrate real-world mDL use cases and educate attendees looking to kickstart their mDL implementation journey.” Use cases to be demoed include online bank onboarding; age verification for alcohol sales at stadiums and retail locations, as well as for casinos and cannabis sales; night club fast entry; TSA ID check and truck fleet management.

Biometric Update will be reporting live from the event.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  Idaho  |  ISO 18013  |  legislation  |  mDL (mobile driver's license)  |  TSA  |  United States