The Driver's License Number That Almost Became Federal Standard

A 1996 federal rule came close to putting Social Security numbers into the driver’s-license format used for identification by federal agencies. The rule came from Section 656 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, and it required a number that could be read visually or electronically. A state could keep the number off the physical card, but applicants still had to submit it for verification. 1

By October 1998, privacy groups were still fighting the measure after Congress failed to repeal it. Maryland planned to keep the number off the card and encode it electronically if the rule took effect on October 1, 2000. 2

Section 355 of Public Law 106-69 repealed Section 656(b) in 1999, before the federal license-format requirement took effect. A separate 1997 child-support rule still allowed states to collect Social Security numbers on license applications and keep them in agency records. 1

The result was a narrower near-miss: the federal number-on-the-license standard disappeared, while state-level application records could still hold the number. 1