Mobile ID
Greater Access, Privacy, and Security
The Gap
Americans often must verify their identity to access government services, conduct financial transactions, board a plane, buy alcohol, or vote. Physical ID cards are easily stolen, lost, or forged, and often pose a challenge to keep up-to-date in terms of address.
The Solution
Mobile ID is a secure, digital version of a driver’s license or state-issued ID that lives on a person’s smartphone. It provides an alternative to a physical license or ID card.
State of Play
Mobile ID has been adopted in some form in the following 29 states.
How the Policy Works
Mobile ID is accessed like a mobile boarding pass. Key features include:
- Convenience. Real-time address changes reduce visits and reprints, saving time and money.
- Security. Mobile IDs are harder to steal or forge due to biometric/passcode protection.
- Privacy. Only data needed for a transaction is shared–for example, a liquor store can verify your age without seeing your home address
Implementation is relatively inexpensive, usually costing less than $2 million. Several states have been able to implement mobile ID using existing DMV budgets. While there’s an upfront cost, mobile ID saves taxpayer dollars over time by reducing printing and mailing costs. DMVs can also fund mobile ID through minor increases to transaction fees, usually less than $1.
Why Responsive Gov Cares
Mobile IDs represent a low-cost opportunity for the government to modernize how it does business, show people that government can deliver, and better keep up with how people live their daily lives. Just as people are switching from plastic credit cards to digital ones, mobile ID lets them do the same with driver’s licenses and state IDs.
