# ISO/IEC 18013-5 Mobile Driver's License (mDL)

Source: https://startwithidentity.com/standards/iso-18013-5-mdl/
Last updated: 2026-07-06
License: content by Start with Identity. Cite the source URL.

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## What it is

ISO/IEC 18013-5 defines the **mobile driver's license (mDL)**: a driver's license or state ID issued to a phone wallet in a standardized, cryptographically verifiable format. It is one of the most widely deployed [verifiable credential](https://startwithidentity.com/standards/verifiable-credentials/) formats in the world because governments are shipping it into consumer wallets like Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. The companion standard **18013-7** extends presentation to online and unattended scenarios.

## How it works

- **Data model:** the license is a signed set of data elements (name, age, portrait, license class) using a mobile security object that a verifier checks against the issuing authority's public key.
- **Selective disclosure:** the holder can share only what a transaction needs. Buying alcohol can reveal an over-21 flag and a photo without exposing the address or document number. This maps directly to [selective disclosure](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/selective-disclosure/) and the [mobile driver's license](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/mobile-drivers-license/) glossary entry.
- **In person (18013-5):** presentation over Bluetooth or NFC to a reader, working offline.
- **Online (18013-7):** presentation to a website or app, increasingly bridged to [OpenID4VP](https://startwithidentity.com/standards/openid4vc/) so mDLs flow through the same rails as other credentials.

## Status

ISO/IEC 18013-5 was published in 2021 and 18013-7 in 2024. In the United States, the [AAMVA](https://www.aamva.org/) digital trust ecosystem and TSA acceptance at airport checkpoints have driven rollout across a growing list of states. The EU's [EUDI Wallet](https://startwithidentity.com/standards/eidas-2-eudi-wallet/) references mDL alongside [SD-JWT VC](https://startwithidentity.com/standards/verifiable-credentials/). Track which jurisdictions have shipped in the [digital IDs by country](https://startwithidentity.com/digital-ids/) directory.

## When to use it

mDL matters to any verifier that checks government ID: age-restricted retail, [identity verification and KYC](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/identity-verification/), travel, and account onboarding. Accepting mDL can replace scanning and storing a full ID image with a signed, minimal, tamper-evident presentation, which reduces both fraud and data-retention risk.

## Pitfalls

- Reader and relying-party support is still uneven; plan a fallback to physical or document-scan verification.
- In-person and online profiles differ; build for the presentation channel you actually need.
- mDL is an ID document format, not a full identity system. Pair it with your existing [identity verification](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/decentralized-identity/reusable-identity-and-kyc-with-verifiable-credentials/) workflow.

## Related

Guides: [reusable identity and KYC with verifiable credentials](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/decentralized-identity/reusable-identity-and-kyc-with-verifiable-credentials/). Directories: [digital IDs by country](https://startwithidentity.com/digital-ids/), [identity verification vendors](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/identity-verification/). Standards: [Verifiable Credentials](https://startwithidentity.com/standards/verifiable-credentials/), [OpenID4VC](https://startwithidentity.com/standards/openid4vc/), [eIDAS 2 / EUDI Wallet](https://startwithidentity.com/standards/eidas-2-eudi-wallet/). Glossary: [mobile driver's license](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/mobile-drivers-license/), [digital identity wallet](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/digital-wallet/).

## Who wrote it

Browser-side presentation of mobile driving licences runs through the W3C Digital Credentials API, edited by [Tim Cappalli](https://startwithidentity.com/experts/tim-cappalli/). [Wayne Chang](https://startwithidentity.com/experts/wayne-chang/) worked on the California DMV programme that deployed one. More in the [experts directory](https://startwithidentity.com/experts/).