20 States and Puerto Rico Roll Out Digital Driver's Licenses as Privacy Fears Grow
Updated
Updated · PBS NewsHour · Aug 11
20 States and Puerto Rico Roll Out Digital Driver's Licenses as Privacy Fears Grow
3 articles · Updated · PBS NewsHour · Aug 11
Summary
Twenty states and Puerto Rico now offer some form of mobile driver's license, letting residents store a digital credential in a phone wallet or state app.
The pitch is convenience and tighter data control: users can tap a reader at places like airports or doctors' offices without handing over a phone, and some systems can share only needed details such as age verification.
Privacy advocates warn the technology could still enable government tracking if verification relies on server retrieval—known as "phone home"—that logs where an ID was used.
AAMVA says states using its systems are barred from that callback architecture, while Utah in March enacted the first digital identity bill of rights to ban it in law.
Adoption is spreading across party lines, though states including Texas and Minnesota have rejected mobile licenses, and civil-liberties groups want laws preserving the option to keep using plastic IDs.