Summary
AAMVA has released version 1.6 of its Mobile Driver License Implementation Guidelines for jurisdictions developing or operating digital driving-licence programmes. The update revises guidance on internet use, versioning, revocation and data elements while retaining interoperability and privacy as core goals.
The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) has released version 1.6 of its Mobile Driver License (mDL) Implementation Guidelines, a standards document for jurisdictions that are implementing or have already implemented digital driving-licence systems. The update, announced on June 30, 2026, is intended to help issuing authorities and, to a lesser extent, mDL verifiers build systems that can work across jurisdictional boundaries.
An mDL is a driving-licence credential designed for use through a mobile device. Unlike a simple photograph of a physical licence, an mDL system requires an issuing authority to create the credential and a verifier to check it. AAMVA’s guidance is focused on making those exchanges technically compatible while supporting trust and privacy-preserving implementations.
What version 1.6 changes
The main revision affects Appendix C, titled “Over the Internet Use”. AAMVA has also moved versioning guidance into a new standalone Chapter 11. Versioning provides a way for systems to identify and manage different revisions of the guideline or related data formats as implementations evolve.
The update also changes the guidance for mDL revocation so that it aligns with the processes used by issuing authorities. Revocation is the mechanism by which an authority withdraws or invalidates a credential. Aligning the digital process with the issuer’s existing procedures is important because the status of an mDL must reflect the authority’s decision about the underlying licence.
Other changes include clarifications, editorial revisions and several minor updates to AAMVA’s mDL data-element set. The data-element set defines the types of information that an mDL system can handle. AAMVA directs readers to the document’s revision history for the detailed list of changes.
Why interoperability and privacy are central
AAMVA identifies three broad objectives for the guidelines: technical interoperability between different issuing authorities’ programmes, trust in mDLs issued by those authorities, and privacy-preserving implementations.
Interoperability means that one issuing authority’s system should be able to read an mDL issued by another authority. Without common technical expectations, a verifier may need separate integrations for every jurisdiction whose licences it accepts. Shared guidance can give those systems a common basis for exchanging and interpreting credential information, although actual compatibility depends on how individual jurisdictions implement the document.
Trust covers the ability of verifiers to establish that an mDL comes from a recognised issuing authority and remains valid under that authority’s processes. Privacy-preserving design generally aims to limit unnecessary disclosure when a digital credential is checked. In its announcement, AAMVA identifies privacy as a design goal but does not describe the specific privacy controls introduced in version 1.6.
The document is implementation guidance rather than a single mobile-licence application or a universal rollout. Its intended audience is primarily the authorities responsible for issuing licences, with some guidance for organisations that verify them. The announcement describes the technical and procedural areas revised in version 1.6; it does not provide jurisdiction-specific launch dates, adoption figures or performance results.