Drivers in Georgia can now present a state-issued digital driver’s license or identification card to Georgia State Patrol troopers during traffic stops, the Georgia Department of Public Safety (DPS) has announced. The option also applies to the department’s Commercial Vehicle Enforcement officers and Capitol Police officers, and covers other interactions such as crash investigations.
The change follows House Bill 296, which allows drivers to present a license in a specified electronic format while operating a vehicle. Under the amended state law governing how licenses must be carried and shown, law enforcement agencies across Georgia must have equipment capable of verifying digital licenses by July 1, 2027.
To use a digital ID, a driver first tells the trooper or officer that they would like to present it, then holds their phone near the officer’s identity reading device. Drivers are told not to hand their phone to the officer. They can review the information requested before it is shared, and must consent to the transfer using biometric authentication such as facial recognition.
According to the department, officers receive the same information they would get from a physical license, and no additional data or identity checks are shared. Officers will not ask drivers for a digital ID, and drivers can always choose to present a physical license or state ID instead.
“The Georgia Department of Public Safety is proud to introduce this new tool made available to all of our Troopers and Officers to help us more effectively serve our citizens and visitors by being able to read their driver’s license and IDs digitally if they choose,” said Col. William W. Hitchens III, the department’s commissioner. He said the department is working with the Georgia Department of Driver Services to make the transition as easy as possible.
Driver Services Commissioner Angelique B. McClendon commended the department’s early adoption of digital driver’s licenses and said the partnership represented “an important step toward making digital identification a convenient, secure, and practical option for Georgia Drivers.”
Because other law enforcement agencies may not yet accept the digital version, DPS recommends that motorists continue to carry a physical license or state ID, which remains an accepted form of identification. Georgia’s digital licenses can also be used to verify age for alcohol and tobacco purchases at participating retailers, which can choose whether to accept them, according to the Department of Driver Services.
Sources: Georgia Department of Public Safety, CBS News Atlanta
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
