PennDOT Drivers License enhanced security features get one step closer to Federal Real-ID

PennDOT Drivers License enhanced security features overview.

PennDOT began using a new driver's license & ID security feature on December 5, 2011. This new license and ID security feature can be used to ensure valid identification to those tasked with checking ID. Pennsylvania is the first state to use this security feature on Driver's License and ID cards. This verification will not show a suspended driver's license status, but only prove that the license was issued by the state and is not a fake license or fake ID. You can get the new ID by going to your closest PennDOT License Center found here.

WHAT IS IT AND WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
The new security feature is a black and white hologram, wherein “PA” sits inside the Keystone symbol surrounded by a circle. To view a sample driver’s license with the new security feature, visit PennDOT’s Driver and Vehicle Services website at www.dmv.state.pa.us under the Identity/Security Information Center.

WHY IS PENNDOT ADDING THIS NEW SECURITY FEATURE?
With an already impressive array of security features, PennDOT added this new element to driver’s  licenses and photo IDs in order to provide a quick, easy form of identification verification - even under limited light - to bars, banks, law enforcement and others. An on-going process, the addition of this  latest feature is indicative of PennDOT’s efforts to improve security and to mitigate counterfeiting while providing a security feature that people can easily see.

WHERE WILL THE NEW LICENSE & ID SECURITY FEATURE BE PLACED ON THE DRIVER’S LICENSE/IDENTIFICATION  CARDS?
The new security feature includes two symbols that will be placed over both photo images on the  driver’s license and identification card.

WHAT IS SO UNIQUE ABOUT THE NEW PENNSYLVANIA DRIVER'S LICENSE/ID SECURITY ELEMENT?
Produced by state-of-the-art holographic technology; this feature is designed to suppress the color  spectrum "rainbow" of normal holography. The result is the striking effect of a black versus white hologram  at high resolution. The black and white areas reverse when viewing angle is changed by 90 degrees and  is visible in bright, moderate and low-light environments.

HOW WILL I KNOW IF I HAVE A DRIVER’S LICENSE/IDENTIFICATION CARD WITH THE NEW FEATURE?

• View the driver’s license or photo identification so that the Pennsylvania Keystone can be seen. Note that the feature is colorless and appears black and white. Without changing the angle of the viewing, rotate the card 90 degrees left or right.
• The black and white elements will switch; the black becoming white and the white becoming black within the design. 
• For night time or low light authentication, use a flashlight held at about a 30 to 60 degree angle to the card surface so that the feature appears.
• Rotate either the card or the flashlight 90 degrees and the feature will switch the black and white elements within its design.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FOR EVERYONE TO HAVE A PENNSYLVANIA DRIVER’S LICENSE/IDENTIFICATION CARD WITH THE NEW FEATURE?
Since Pennsylvania driver’s licenses and identification cards are issued on a four-year cycle, it will take four years for every Pennsylvania driver’s license/identification card holder to have a product with the new security feature.

IF I DON’T WANT TO WAIT UNTIL I RENEW, HOW DO I GET A PENNSYLVANIA DRIVER’S LICENSE/IDENTIFICATION CARD WITH THE NEW SECURITY FEATURE?
You can complete an Application for Change/Correction/Replacement of Non-Commercial Driver’s License (DL-80) or an Application to Replace/Correct Commercial Driver’s License (DL-80CD) and pay the applicable fee.  These applications can be downloaded from PennDOT’s Driver and Vehicle Services website or you may contact your local PennDOT License Center.

DO ANY OTHER STATES OR JURISDICTIONS USE THIS NEW SECURITY FEATURE ON DRIVER’S LICENSES OR PHOTO IDS?
No. Pennsylvania is the first state in the USA to use this new security feature on driver’s licenses and IDs.


This is a step in the right direction toward enhanced ID cards, or the US Real ID program. This will allow you to use a state issued ID as a replacement for a passport when travelling to certain destinations around the world. This will not show weather a driver's license has been suspended or revoked, it will also not allow someone to travel outside of the United States just yet.

The REAL ID Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 2005, was an attempt to create nationwide minimum standards for states to issue driver’s licenses and ID cards. The law requires changes to state standards, procedures and requirements for the issuance of driver’s licenses and identification cards, if they are to be accepted as identity documents by the federal government.

The United States Department of Homeland Security (U.S. DHS) issued the final REAL ID regulations on Jan. 11, 2008. Under the final REAL ID regulations, only REAL ID-compliant driver’s license and identification cards were to be accepted for official federal purposes, i.e. boarding a commercial aircraft, entering a nuclear power plant or federal facility that requires identification on or after the original full compliance deadline of May 11, 2008, unless states requested and were granted an initial extension by the U.S. DHS. Pennsylvania was granted an initial extension to complete an analysis of the final regulations and to determine whether the commonwealth would participate in REAL ID. This allowed Pennsylvania residents to continue using PA driver’s licenses and identification cards as ID for official federal purposes through Dec. 31, 2009.

Pennsylvania requested a second extension in November 2009. The U.S. DHS granted the commonwealth the second extension in December 2009 to implement the federal REAL ID Act, which allowed Pennsylvania residents to continue using PA driver’s licenses and identification cards as ID for official federal purposes, as defined above, to May 10, 2011.

Requesting and being granted the two extensions by U.S. DHS did not commit the commonwealth to comply with the REAL ID Act.

In March 2011, the U.S. DHS announced that the deadline for full compliance with the REAL ID Act had been extended from May 10, 2011 to Jan. 15, 2013, which means Pennsylvania residents can continue using their PA driver’s licenses and identification cards as ID for official federal purposes through this date.

Regardless of what happens with REAL ID, Pennsylvania remains committed to continuously taking steps to enhance the security of its driver’s license and identification card products, processes and systems to mitigate fraud and identity theft.