Digital driver's licenses and identification cards.

Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue to a person a driver's license as applied for when the department determines that the applicant is lawfully entitled to a license. Existing law requires the license to state specified information, including the true name, age, and mailing address of the licensee and a brief description and engraved picture or photograph of the licensee for the purpose of identification. Existing law authorizes the department to issue an identification card to any person attesting to their true full name, correct age, and other identifying data as certified by the applicant for the identification card. This bill would authorize the department to establish a pilot program to evaluate the use of optional mobile or digital alternatives to driver's licenses and identification cards if specified requirements are met, including that the Department of the California Highway Patrol approve alternative licenses, that the pilot program be completed no later than January 1, 2028, and that all participants receive both a physical and digital driver's license or identification card. The bill would require the department, in developing and implementing the use of digital driver's licenses and identification cards, to ensure the protection of personal information and include security features that protect against unauthorized access to information, as specified. The bill would require that the department limit data exchanged between the department and any electronic device, between the department and the provider of any electronic device, and between any electronic device and the provider of that electronic device, as specified. The bill would prohibit an entity that contracts with the department from using, sharing, selling, or disclosing information obtained as part of the contract except as necessary to satisfy the terms of the contract, as specified. The bill would state that the holder of a digital driver's license or identification card is not required to turn over their electronic device to any other person or entity in order to use the digital driver's license or identification card for identity verification and that turning over an electronic device for the purpose of identity verification does not constitute consent to a search or access to any information other than that which is immediately available on the driver's license or identification card, as specified. The bill would provide that a request for remote access to a digital driver's license or identification card requires the express consent of the holder of the digital driver's license or identification card and shall be limited to the information requested, as specified, and that consent to remote access does not constitute consent to a search, as specified. The bill would state that a participant in the pilot program is not required to use a digital driver's license or identification card rather than the physical version, as specified. The bill would prohibit a person or entity from providing preferential service based on a person's use of a digital driver's license or identification card. The bill would authorize the department to evaluate the use of private industry partners in the conduct of the pilot program, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to include the issuance of Real ID driver's licenses and identification cards in the pilot program upon authorization of the United States Secretary of Homeland Security. The bill would require the department, if it conducts the pilot program, to submit a report to the Legislature, as specified.