mDL for Technology Developers

Developing new uses for the mobile driver’s license (mDL)? Projects are underway.

mDL for Technology Developers

The mDL provides a major upgrade from traditional physical credentials that can be lost, stolen, damaged, or outdated. It reduces the risk of exposing too much personal information and being counterfeited.

With the mDL in their digital wallet, Californians enjoy secure and convenient service, control what information they share, and ensure data protection.

Projects are underway to develop secure, privacy-protecting applications using the California mDL and CA DMV Wallet. We post information on this page as projects open for participation.

California mDL Community Hackathons

To further accelerate acceptance and use of mDLs, and promote the adoption of secure, privacy-preserving digital identity, the DMV is co-hosting two mDL community “hackathons” in fall 2024. The hackathons are presented in partnership with the OpenID Foundation.

Learn more

Contributors

OpenCred

OpenCred is an open source platform designed to make it easy for organizations (relying parties) to check credentials from individuals (holders) in a secure and verifiable way, and for developers to work with relying parties to enable multiple use cases across Government, Corporations and Small and Midsize Businesses (SMBs) sectors.

OpenCred For Relying Parties

Enabling New Use Cases for Government, Corporations and Small and Midsize Businesses (SMBs)

CA DMV has launched an open digital credential software platform (OpenCred) with support for mobile driver’s licenses (mDL). OpenCred is an open source platform that enables multiple Relying Parties (RPs) across various sectors (Government, Corporations, SMBs, etc.) to both accept and authenticate individual users.

This new capability for relying parties to accept mobile driver’s licenses (mDL) on their websites will enable many new benefits including enhanced user convenience, fraud prevention, and cost savings while enabling a secure and convenient user experience.

The OpenCred Open Source Platform

OpenCred is an open source platform designed to make it easy for organizations (relying parties) to check credentials from individuals (holders) in a secure and verifiable way. Think of it as a digital verification checkpoint where organizations can ask for proof of certain information, like a digital driver’s license, directly from a person’s digital wallet. This platform:

can be used to verify digital credentials, such as the California mDL, which is currently available to the residents of California;
is being released as open source so that any state agency, federal agency, or business can receive and verify the California mDL;
will be expanded to support other digital credentials issued by the California DMV and other state and federal agencies over time; and
supports open standards and open specifications from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

Implemented Use Cases

CA DMV is currently using OpenCred for the following use cases today (with CA DMV also acting as a Relying Party):

Disability Placard Enrollment
- Individual goes to CA DMV website to start the enrollment process.
- The current process of using a physical form, or filling out an online form, is replaced by an easier auto-fill process when using the CA DMV App.
- A new option, with the individual’s consent, uses the CA DMV App to upload the digital driver’s license and automatically fill out the enrollment form for a Disability Placard.
- The helps individuals with physical accessibility needs that create challenges when filling out paper forms and eliminates errors when filling out form fields or uploading pictures.
Secure Login for DMV Services
- Individual goes to CA DMV website to start a process that requires them to log into their CA DMV website account.
- The current process requires them to use a username and password, which can be forgotten or stolen.
- A new option, with the individual’s consent, uses the CA DMV App to log in using a much more secure mechanism than using a username and password.
- This helps provide more security around the individual’s account and how they manage their CA DMV related activities.

Additional Use Case Scenarios

The mDL provides a secure, verifiable identification for residents. This can be used as a tool by state agencies and commercial entities (banks, financial institutions, others), that issue licenses, permits, and benefits to (1) reduce fraudulent claims, (2) improve the online user experience, and (3) reduce costs associated with verifying legacy forms of identification.

A few examples: State benefits, Access to secure locations, eKYC use case for various Banking and financial institutions applications processes (opening an account, loan, etc.) which can be enabled in a few days using the open source OpenCred software.

OpenCred For Developers

OpenCred is an open source software platform designed to make it easy for organizations (relying parties) to check digital credentials from individuals (holders), with their consent, in a secure and verifiable way. Think of it as a digital verification checkpoint where entities can ask for proof of certain information, like a driver’s license, directly from a person’s digital wallet. CA DMV has released OpenCred, as an open source W3C Verifiable Credential-Verifier software platform (coming soon!) for developers to work with relying parties to enable multiple use cases across Government, Corporations and SMB sectors.

This is a big deal. More than 39 million people live in California. More than 30 million people have a California driver’s license. Free and open-source software that can verify these digital credentials lowers the bar for these digital credentials to be deployed throughout California and the rest of the United States.

The standards compliant, open source, OpenCred platform provides this functionality to enable Verifiers in the U.S., and globally, to accept Verifiable Credentials issued by the California DMV and other similar Verifiable Credential issuing agencies across the US.

Two ways for developers to enable OpenCred for Relying Parties Websites:

API Integration: Organizations can integrate OpenCred into their systems through an Application Programming Interface (API). This allows them to automatically request and verify credentials as part of their digital processes. They can also check the status of these requests to see if the credentials have been presented correctly.
OIDC Login Flow: Alternatively, organizations can use a more straightforward method similar to logging in with social media accounts. This “Login” flow uses OpenID Connect (OIDC), a secure sign-in protocol, to request and receive credential presentations. It’s user-friendly and doesn’t require the holder to share unnecessary personal information.

In both cases, OpenCred ensures that the exchange of credentials is secure, verifiable, and respects the privacy of the individuals sharing their information.

OpenCred provides the following features to Developers and relying parties:

Docker-based deployment to popular on-premise, hybrid, and cloud environments such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure.
Horizontal scaling to support tens of millions of verifications per day.
Customizable colors, brand images, and page text.
Support for the W3C Verifiable Credentials Data Model and W3C Decentralized Identifiers.
Support for workflows as an OpenID Connect Identity Provider or using an HTTP API for non-OpenID systems.
Open digital wallet selection support through the Credential Handler API (CHAPI)
Presentation protocol support for Verifiable Credential Exchanges API (VC API) and OpenID for Verifiable Presentation (OID4VP).
Native/local verifier support that is not dependent on any external services.
Remote/external verifier support using either the Verifiable Credential Verification API (VC API) or Microsoft Entra
Storage of historical DID Documents to enable local auditing

OpenCred Github Source Code Repository

This resource is for developers who would like to study, download, contribute to, or deploy the OpenCred software.

Go to the OpenCred Source Code

Benefits to CA Residents & State Operations

In the future, residents may use mDL to operate motor vehicles and board airplanes as well as access health care, secure financial assistance, prove age, and much more. CA & residents will see:

Cost Savings – Eliminating manual verification for benefits would save state agencies tens of millions.
Improved Privacy – Residents control their data instead of a third party seeking to monetize it.
Reduced Fraud – Digital accuracy and data authenticity ensure against errors and falsification.
Better Customer Service – Easier to do business with the state, private sector, in-person, or online.
Bias Mitigation – Fewer opportunities for bias by sharing data on a need to know basis.

ISO 18013-5 IACA Certification

This resource is for businesses and government entities who are looking to consume/read the new Mobile Driver’s Licenses (mDL) California released recently. This will provide technology and process guidance, resources and FAQs.

Download the IACA Root Certificate