The Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) has announced a final rule in the Federal
Register allowing passengers to use driver’s licenses at airport
security checkpoints and in entrances to federal buildings for
identification until REAL ID enforcement begins on May 7, 2025.
Effective November 25, 2024, this final rule allows states to apply to TSA for a temporary waiver of certain REAL ID
requirements written in the REAL ID regulations. Once approved, those states
Mobile Driver’s Licenses (mDLs) will continue to be accepted at TSA airport
security checkpoints.
TSA will publish a list of states on its websites where mDLs
are approved for federal acceptance. After emerging industry standards and
federal guidelines are finalized, TSA will issue a future rulemaking to set
more comprehensive requirements for mDLs that will eventually replace waiver
provisions established by this rule.
An mDL is a digital representation of a state-issued
physical driver’s license that is typically installed through an application on
the user’s smartphone and stored in a digital wallet, similar to how many users
currently store their physical credit cards on their smartphones.
The
information from the digital wallet is read after the smartphone is either
tapped against an mDL reader or scanned under the reader to establish the
validity of the mDL and a person’s identity.
Currently TSA accepts mDLs issued by 11 states at 27
participating airports and has a goal of accepting mDLs in all airports, by
expanding the technology nationwide. Current states include Arizona,
California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, New York,
Ohio and Utah.
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