Illinois licenses, IDs to enter digital realm
[November 19, 2025]
By Brenden Moore
CHICAGO — Illinois driver’s licenses and identification cards will
officially enter the digital realm this week.
Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced Tuesday that people will
now have the option to add their Illinois-issued licenses and IDs to the
digital wallets on their cellphones. The long-awaited technological
advancement will allow digital IDs to be used to enter a bar or at an
airport checkpoint, among other situations.
The option will be available in Apple Wallet starting Wednesday with
plans to expand the program to Google and Samsung wallets soon,
Giannoulias said, calling it “a gamechanger.”
“Your ID now lives securely in the same place that you already tap to
pay for groceries, present a boarding pass for a flight or enter a
concert — all protected by the same cutting-edge privacy and encryption
technology that you trust every day on the devices that you already
love,” Giannoulias said.
The rollout comes a year-and-a-half after state lawmakers passed and
Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation authorizing Giannoulias’ office to
move forward with the technology.
Giannoulias announced in January that his office had begun working with
Apple in hopes of having the feature ready by the end of this year.
Illinois is now among a dozen states, including Maryland, Missouri and
Iowa, that offer driver’s licenses and IDs in digital wallets.
The digital cards are “in addition to, and not instead of” a physical ID
under the law, which means that public agencies and private entities can
accept electronic IDs in place of physical ones but don’t have to. And
people will still have to carry their physical license or ID with them
even if they opt to use the digital version.
How to set up digital IDs
To add to their phones, people will have to scan their physical driver’s
license or ID and take a selfie, which will be provided to the state for
verification. They will also be prompted to complete a series of facial
and head movements during the setup process. Authentication via facial
or touch ID will be required before information is shared.
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State driver’s licenses and ID cards may soon be available on
iPhones. But they won’t replace physical IDs. (Capitol News Illinois
photo by Andrew Adams)
The Secretary of State’s office is also launching a free verifier app
for businesses to allow them to check proof of age for restrictive
purchases like alcohol. But instead of presenting the entire ID, it will
allow for the display of only pertinent information, such as age, while
shielding what is deemed immaterial.
“This technology gives us a smarter, faster way to verify age at
concessions, helping us reduce lines and keep fans focused on what they
came for: the show,” Lucca Serra, director of marketing at Soldier
Field, said.
The presentation of a digital license to a law enforcement officer does
not give them consent to search the device. Giannoulias said the mobile
ID will be permitted for use at TSA checkpoints at Chicago’s O’Hare and
Midway airports, Lambert Airport in St. Louis and more than 250 airports
nationwide.
Illinois residents can go to
http://www.ilsos.gov/mobile for a step-by-step guide on how to add
their ID to their digital wallet.
Capitol News Illinois is
a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government
coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily
by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
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