States Are Beginning to Adopt Digital Driver’s Licenses. Biden May Supercharge the Transition.

A draft executive order viewed by NOTUS shows how the Biden administration could reshape how Americans access government services, and potentially behave online.

Sample of a digital driver's license
Already, 13 states have rolled out some kind of mobile driver’s license program. George Frey/Getty Images

The Biden administration is laying the groundwork for wider acceptance of digital identifications, like driver’s licenses you can show on your smartphone — a push that could fundamentally reshape how citizens access everything from public benefits to pornography online.

A draft of a forthcoming executive order viewed by NOTUS pushes federal and state governments to speed adoption of smartphone-based mobile driver’s license and ID options more widely, stating: “It is the policy of the executive branch to strongly encourage the use of digital identity documents.”

Such documents could be submitted digitally and, in combination with biometric scans like facial recognition, could help better verify identity online.