Michigan Digital Driver’s License: Cost, Privacy, and Air Travel

A Michigan digital driver’s license is not available yet. A package of five bills moving through the state Senate in the 2025–2026 session would authorize one, directing the Secretary of State to build or contract a mobile license system within 18 months of the bills becoming law. As of early 2026, the bills have had committee hearings but have not passed, so everything below describes what the legislation would do if enacted, not current Michigan law.¹

Where the Legislation Stands

Senate Bills 617 through 621 were discussed before the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in February 2026. Together they would let the Secretary of State issue mobile versions of standard operator’s and chauffeur’s licenses, enhanced driver’s licenses, and state ID cards, and they set the ground rules for how the digital credential can be used.²

A nearly identical package passed the Senate in the previous legislative term but stalled in the House.³ Passage this time is plausible but not certain.

How the Mobile License Would Work

You would need a valid physical Michigan license or state ID first. The mobile version supplements the physical card; it does not replace it.⁴

Once loaded onto your phone, the credential would work offline, so a dead cell signal wouldn’t lock you out. You would not have to hand your phone to a clerk or bouncer to prove your identity or age. Whoever needs to verify you would use a scan or verification method that keeps the phone in your hand.⁴

The Secretary of State would build the system in-house or through a vendor and follow the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators’ implementation guidelines for mobile driver’s licenses.²

Where You Could Not Use It

Two categories are explicitly off-limits under the proposal, and they’re the ones most likely to trip people up.

The first is a traffic stop or any other interaction with law enforcement. Drivers would still have to carry and present a physical license. The Department of State told the Senate committee that a digital ID would not substitute for the physical card during encounters with local, county, or state law enforcement.¹

The second is voting. Senate Bill 621 would amend the Michigan Election Law to prohibit using a mobile license to verify a voter’s identity at the polls. You would still need a physical ID or another accepted form of identification to vote.²

Everyday uses like age checks at bars, retail purchases, and access to state services would be covered.

Privacy and Data Controls

The data-sharing model is the most distinctive part of the proposal. When a business or agency requests information, your phone would show a prompt listing each field being requested, and you could approve or decline pieces individually. Nick Andary, the Department of State’s senior legislative liaison, described it as a pop-up showing each data request, with the ability to reject anything beyond what the transaction actually requires.¹

If a liquor store only needs to confirm you’re over 21, that’s all it gets. A request that also reaches for your home address or organ donor status could be pared down before you approve it. Data on the device would be encrypted, and the initial loading process would be protected so that only you and the Secretary of State can access what’s being transferred.²

Senate Bill 620 would also bar anyone from requiring you to use a digital ID in place of a physical card, and from requiring you to hand over your phone.

What It Would Cost

The legislation authorizes a fee of up to $4 to issue or renew a mobile ID. That money would go into a new mobile license fund rather than the state’s general fund.⁴ The actual charge would be set administratively after the bills pass and could come in below the $4 ceiling.

Air Travel

Federal REAL ID enforcement began on May 7, 2025. TSA can accept a mobile driver’s license at airport checkpoints only if the issuing state has a federal waiver or the agency has adopted an alternative acceptance policy.⁵ More than 20 states already have mobile licenses accepted at TSA checkpoints, including Ohio, but Michigan is not among them because the state hasn’t launched a program.⁶

Even where TSA does accept a mobile license, the agency encourages travelers to carry a physical acceptable ID as backup. Michigan already issues enhanced driver’s licenses, which TSA recognizes as acceptable alternatives to REAL ID-compliant cards.⁷ Whether a future Michigan mobile credential would be accepted at checkpoints would depend on federal approval after the system launches.

What Happens Next

If the Senate passes the package and the House follows, the Secretary of State would have 18 months to build the mobile license system before residents could apply.² Until then, Michigan has no state-issued digital license option. A Michigan enhanced driver’s license remains valid for domestic air travel and land or sea border crossings with Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean.

1
Michigan Advance. Proposed Digital ID Would Be Disallowed for Use When Voting, Interacting With Law Enforcement
2
Michigan Legislature. Senate Fiscal Agency Bill Analysis – SB 617-621
3
Michigan Public. Mobile ID Bills Moving Through Michigan Senate
4
Midland Daily News. Michigan Bills Would Add Mobile Driver’s Licenses, Digital IDs
5
Transportation Security Administration. REAL ID Mobile Driver’s Licenses (mDLs)
6
Transportation Security Administration. Participating States and Eligible Digital IDs
7
Transportation Security Administration. REAL ID Frequently Asked Questions