AAMVA’s vision of “Safe Drivers, Safe Vehicles, Secure Identities, Saving Lives!” is at the core of our identity programs as we promote uniformity, reciprocity and interoperability in identity management. Much of AAMVA’s identity management team’s efforts have been in spreading awareness and knowledge of the mobile driver license (mDL). As more jurisdictions are pursuing mDL legislation at the state and provincial level, they are turning to AAMVA’s subject matter expertise to help inform legislators.

“There had been some conversations over the few weeks leading up to the committee meeting about the need for someone from AAMVA to speak about the bill as an impartial and independent voice.”
-Tim Roufa, Identity Management Programs and Services, AAMVA

“We, as an identity management team, have always offered to support our jurisdictions in their legislative efforts,” says Michel McCaskill, AAMVA vice president of identity management programs and services. “As a result, we’ve been asked to review and comment on legislation, make suggestions to improve it or just provide facts about the mDL and its ecosystem so that the proposed legislation would allow for the jurisdiction to implement a solution that meets the AAMVA community requirements for privacy, security and interoperability.”

In some cases, AAMVA’s support has led identity management team members to testify before state legislatures. McCaskill testified in Kansas, providing legislators from both the House and Senate with information on ISO/IEC 18013-5-compliant mDLs. In April, AAMVA’s Tim Roufa provided similar information to the Texas House of Representatives’ Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety and Veterans’ Affairs during a hearing on Texas HB 3426, which would authorize Texas to issue ISO-compliant mDLs.

“There had been some conversations over the few weeks leading up to the committee meeting about the need for someone from AAMVA to speak about the bill as an impartial and independent voice,” says Roufa. “I spoke specifically about ISO 18013-5 mobile credentials and what they are, the improvements they can offer over a physical credential in certain respects, the security, the privacy—all of which come with mDL. Afterward, I was able to answer the legislators’ questions.”

McCaskill emphasizes that AAMVA is not supporting any specific bill or technology but is serving as an expert voice in the process. “What we offer does not promote the bill at hand but provides the facts about the mobile driver license, what it is, what it isn’t, how it works, what the security features are and what other features help ensure that the mDL holder’s privacy is secure. Just talk about the facts, so that the jurisdictions can make informed decisions.”