ACLU Comment on Presidential Executive Order to Strengthen Digital ID Regulations

January 16, 2025 4:00 pm

Media Contact
125 Broad Street
18th Floor
New York, NY 10004
United States

WASHINGTON – Today, the Biden Administration announced an Executive Order on strengthening cybersecurity regulations for critical infrastructure sectors and establishing federal standards for secure software. Within the order are guardrails for digital identity documents (such as digital driver’s licenses) that require protection of privacy.

The American Civil Liberties Union has long advocated for robust privacy legislation with the expanding use of digital driver's licenses, recently releasing recommendations and guidance for state legislatures on what digital ID legislation should include to ensure privacy protections and accessibility. Without regulations, digital driver’s licenses could have disastrous consequences for privacy, increase inequity, and lead to pervasive ID checks in American life, including on the internet.

“We applaud the administration for directing that the federal government only support digital driver’s licenses that incorporate privacy-protecting technologies and minimize the data that ID-holders must share,” said Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst with ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “There are numerous privacy-protecting technologies that must be included in any acceptable digital driver’s license scheme; without them, digital IDs could become an existential threat to Americans’ privacy. Though we do not agree with everything in the Executive Order, we are grateful that the administration acknowledged that digital IDs will produce harmful effects if civil rights are not incorporated by design.”

Learn More About the Issues in This Press Release