By Angela Rodriguez
Will mobile driver’s licenses become permanent in California?
Back in September, the California Department of Motor Vehicles first launched a pilot program for Californians to show their driver’s licenses from their cellphones.
Here’s an update from the DMV on the future of mobile driver’s licenses in California:
As part of a pilot program that’s active through June 2026 from the DMV, the mobile driver’s license — also called mDL — allows drivers to keep digital versions of their license on their smartphone. During the pilot, drivers are still required to have their physical cards accessible when it is needed, the DMV website says.
Anita Gore, a spokesperson for the DMV’s Public Affairs Office, said the mDL can be used for identify verification at select locations, such as airports. “Currently, the mDL is accepted in California at most TSA terminals” at San Francisco International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, San Jose Mineta International Airport and “many other airports across the US,” Gore wrote in an email to The Sacramento Bee. “The mDL is also accepted at select retailers to purchase age-restricted products.”
Read more at: CA DMV
