Verifiable credentials are cryptographically signed ID documents, such as a driver’s license, that can be stored securely on a mobile device. They are cryptographically signed by the issuing authority and this signature can be verified by other parties.

To trust that a mobile driver’s license is authentic and has not been tampered with, it needs to be digitally signed by the issuer (such as a State DMV). Due to advancements in cryptography, this type of digital signature is now possible.

It’s very simple in the modern age to copy and paste images, so we need to build security solutions to prevent that from happening. One way to combat this is through device binding.

Authorization and authentication are two distinct concepts that are often used interchangeably but have different meanings in the context of computer security. Authentication is about verifying who you are, while authorization is about determining what you are allowed to do based on your identity and privileges.

Depending on the workflows selected by the DMV, mobile driver's licenses can be issued both in-person and remotely. The ability to issue driver's licenses remotely, without compromising on security by employing advanced security technology, improves the accessibility and convenience.

Retrieval of mDL data for verification, meaning presenting information to a Verifier to prove the validity of certain attributes about your identity, can happen in either an offline or an online environment. In addition to data retrieval models, the interactions themselves can be both offline or online, meaning attended or unattended.

Today, our driver’s licenses are scannable physical cards we carry around in our wallets. Conversely, in order for cryptographically signed ID documents to be machine-readable for various use cases, there needs to be a cross-industry and cross-jurisdiction approach for standardizing data formats.