Transforming Driver Services: Secure Identity Solutions for North American Agencies

Across North America, driver services agencies are accelerating efforts to modernise identity systems – improving citizen experience while strengthening security and resilience. 

This shift is underway. For example, Thales has recently partnered with Service Oklahoma to support the launch of a next-generation driver license system, helping modernize credential issuance and introduce new capabilities. 

This type of transformation reflects a broader trend across the United States and Canada. Agencies are under increasing pressure to deliver faster services, stronger identity protection, and seamless digital experiences, while continuing to safeguard sensitive personal data.

Meeting these demands requires modern identity ecosystems that support both physical and digital credentials while maintaining the highest standards of security and privacy.  

Thales is a trusted partner for civil identity programs worldwide, combining local expertise with global experience. Today, our identity solutions support more than 300 programs globally, and 16 jurisdictions across North America, helping agencies issue secure and verify secure identity credentials at scale.  

Citizens increasingly expect digital services that are both convenient and secure. While most remain satisfied with services provided by driver services agencies, concerns about the protection of personal data remain a key issue.

According to Thales’ 2025 North America Citizen Survey, 65% of citizens expressed interest in obtaining a mobile driver license (mDL) or digital ID, and nearly 70% said they would prefer to obtain these credentials through an official government channel, such as a jurisdiction-issued wallet, rather than through commercial platforms.

These findings highlight the importance of trusted, government-led identity systems that give citizens confidence in how their identity information is managed and protected.

Physical driver licenses and identity cards remain the backbone of identity systems across North America. Ensuring their durability and resistance to fraud continues to be essential.

Thales supports agencies with innovative security features and advanced credential manufacturing technologies designed to protect both the document and the data it contains. Our solutions utilize 100% polycarbonate cards with laser-engraved data, offering superior durability and resistance to tampering or counterfeiting.

Each credential program is developed through a unique collaborative design process with the issuing jurisdiction, creating distinctive card designs that further strengthen visual security and make fraudulent replication significantly more difficult.

In the last five years, Thales has securely delivered more than 100 million driver licenses and identity cards across the United States and Canada, demonstrating the scale and reliability of our credential issuance capabilities.

As identity ecosystems evolve, mobile driver licenses and digital IDs are becoming an increasingly important complement to physical credentials.

Digital identity solutions offer citizens greater convenience while maintaining strong privacy protections. Through Thales’ Trusted Credential Platform, jurisdictions can issue digital credentials through their own official digital ID wallet, while maintaining the flexibility to interface with commercial wallets such as Apple, Google or Samsung.

Thales digital ID solutions comply with ISO 18013-5 and 18013-7 standards, ensuring interoperability across platforms and devices.

Importantly, mobile ID technology allows citizens to share only the information required for a transaction, without exposing additional personal data or handing over control of their device.

Thales’ leadership in this area has been recognised by industry analysts, with Juniper Research ranking Thales number one in Digital Identity on its competitive leaderboard for the second consecutive year.

Driver and motor vehicle agencies must also balance strong security with operational efficiency. Self-service technologies can help agencies manage routine transactions while reducing pressure on staff and improving citizen convenience.

Thales’ self-service enrollment kiosks support processes such as license renewals, address changes and credential enrollment while maintaining robust identity verification.

The kiosks incorporate technologies such as liveness detection cameras to help prevent identity fraud, alongside advanced photo capture capabilities that automatically adjust lighting and camera height to produce ICAO-compliant identity photos on the first attempt.

In 2024, Thales deployed 30 self-service kiosks with the Georgia Department of Driver Services, which processed more than 124,000 citizen transactions during their first year of operation.

As agencies introduce digital identity alongside physical credentials, reliable document verification becomes even more important.

Thales provides high-performance identity verification technologies that authenticate both physical and digital credentials with near-real time results, delivering accurate, trusted proof of identity exactly when it is needed. Devices such as the AT10K and CR2000 document readers enable agencies and verifying organisations to inspect and authenticate identity documents quickly and securely.

These solutions support ISO 18013-5 mobile ID verification, alongside traditional document authentication, helping agencies streamline identity checks while maintaining high levels of trust and security.

Driver services agencies across North America are entering a new phase of identity management, combining physical credentials, mobile IDs, automated enrolment and secure document verification.

Delivering this transformation requires technologies that are secure, interoperable and designed with citizen trust in mind - underpinned by a holistic approach to security across the entire identity lifecycle, from enrollment to credential issuance and authentication.

Thales embeds cybersecurity at every layer of this ecosystem, protecting sensitive data, systems and identities against evolving threats while ensuring compliance with the highest regulatory standards. Leveraging FedRAMP-certified Amazon GovCloud environments, Thales provides trusted, resilience infrastructure for mission-critical identity systems.

With decades of experience in civil identity programs across hundreds of jurisdictions worldwide, Thales continues to support governments in delivering secure, future-ready identity services for the digital age.