US Executive Order on mobile driver’s licenses expected this week

The Biden administration is expected to issue an executive order instructing U.S. federal agencies to work towards adopting mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs) and other forms of digital identity.

Nextgov/FCW has seen a draft of the executive order, and notes expectations that it will be signed by President Biden this week. Deputy National Security Director for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technology Anne Neuberger said publicly that an executive action on cybersecurity has been in the works for months.

The draft order instructs the Social Security Administration to consider offering attribute validation services, providing a yes or no response to queries for identity verification to government systems and benefits programs. Such services could replace those offered by data brokers and credit bureaus.

The use of mDLs for online interactions could involve the use of face biometrics or a PIN, the report notes. Many of those online interactions with federal government bodies are currently supported by scans of physical IDs, along with selfie biometrics, as provided by companies like ID.me, and as currently being adopted by Login.gov.

The order, if signed, would also instruct the Treasury Department and the General Services Administration to pilot a service to alert consumers when their identity data is used to apply for a public benefit, which would enable them to intervene in cases of fraud.

A NIST blog post written by Bill Fisher and Ryan Galluzzo last May about mDLs and online transactions notes the vulnerability of the common legacy approach to remote identity verification, with an uploaded photo of a physical driver’s license and knowledge-based authentication. Forgeries made with AI are making document authenticity checks more difficult.

Galluzzo joined Biometric Update in a December webinar to discuss how the new standard for online transactions with mDLs sets up a potential wave of adoption for 2025.

The Nextgov report also suggests that biometric liveness detection is being threatened, though without reference to supporting information.

mDLs in middle gear

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.

An online public briefing on the results of the 2024 Mobile Driver’s License Hackathons, co-hosted by Open ID, will be held by the California Department of Motor Vehicles on Friday, January 10, at noon Pacific. Hundreds of government agencies, businesses and technology developers are expected to attend.

The two hackathons saw the involvement of over 20 teams, 40 organizations and 200 attendees.

There are now over a million Californians who posses an mDL, up from about 780,000 in October.

New York’s DMV published a myth-busting post on mDLs this week to address misconceptions

New York mDLs do not transmit usage information to the government, are not mandatory, and are not simply photos of physical ID cards, the DMV points out.

Pennsylvania will join the list of states issuing mDLs, if Senate Bill 1032 passes. The legislation was reintroduced this week, local ABC affiliate WHTM reports, after it lapsed in the previous session.

The Bill sets up Pennsylvania mDLs as a means of identity and age verification, in conjunction with face biometrics, but stipulates that physical licenses would be required for traffic stops and voter identification.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  California  |  digital ID  |  mDL (mobile driver's license)  |  New York  |  New York Mobile ID  |  Pennsylvania  |  U.S. Government