Illinois launching digital driver's licenses and state IDs on iPhones for airports, restaurants and bars

Olivia Olander, Chicago Tribune on Nov 18, 2025

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CHICAGO — Starting Wednesday, Illinois residents will be able to use their iPhones to show their driver’s license at select airports, restaurants and bars.

Under a major digital shift that Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias cast on Tuesday as a long-promised modernization of government services, Illinois residents will be able to add their state driver’s license or state ID to their Apple Wallets. Mobile IDs will expand to Android users within the next few months or sometime next year, he said.

“Our goal has been simple: bring government into the 21st century, and meet people where they are,” Giannoulias said at an event in West Town that resembled the launch of a new iPhone as much as it did a state news conference. “Today, we take another major leap forward.”

Illinoisans will still have to carry physical IDs for law enforcement, such as when they are pulled over for speeding. But Apple Wallet IDs will be accepted at businesses that opt in, as well as at O’Hare and Midway international airports, and at TSA checkpoints at more than 250 airports nationwide, Giannoulias said.

The rollout will begin Wednesday, according to Giannoulias’ office. Users will be able to add their state ID within the Wallet app by scanning their existing ID or driver’s license card with their phone and providing a selfie, the office said.

Users will be able to present their IDs by tapping their phone or watch, rather than fumbling through their wallets for a driver’s license or ID card, according to the office.

That change will limit the amount of information that bartenders, bouncers and cashiers can see when checking IDs. Rather than needing to see the entire document, businesses will be able to request just key verifications — for example, that a customer is older than 21 — and have customers tap their mobile ID to confirm that information without seeing an exact birthday or address, Giannoulias said.

Using a mobile ID will be optional and free, according to Giannoulias’ office.

On the business side, a mobile ID verifier app from the secretary of state’s office will also be available Wednesday, the office said.

Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, said widespread adoption may take about a year and a half, but he expects most restaurants will eventually accept the mobile IDs.

Historically, new technology takes time to adopt, he said, “but then you have everyone jumping on.”

The Illinois General Assembly last year approved the legislation legalizing digital IDs. Giannoulias said at the time that eligibility for a mobile identification card would be the same as for the physical credential.

Digital IDs have been available for residents in other states in the U.S., but the update will make Illinois the largest state to offer mobile IDs widely to residents through Apple Wallet, according to a list from the Transportation Security Administration. More than a dozen states, including Colorado and Maryland, have offered some form of mobile IDs, according to the Transportation Security Administration, but some, including California, only have a limited program.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois previously raised privacy and security concerns about the legislation allowing mobile IDs, such as the possibility that law enforcement would use them as a pretext to access a phone.

The rollout does not allow police to seize a user’s phone at will to access their mobile ID, nor does it allow law enforcement officers to accept mobile IDs, Giannoulias said.

Stephen Ragan, who works on privacy and technology surveillance issues with the ACLU of Illinois, said the organization currently has no objection to the law as it supported many guardrails put in place when the state worked toward implementation over the last couple of years. Still, concerns remain generally about making demands for identification verification more prevalent both in person and online, he said.

In his first term as secretary of state and running for reelection, Giannoulias on Tuesday repeatedly framed the implementation as a win for his office. In addition to running for a second term next year, Giannoulias has reportedly been considering a bid for Chicago mayor in 2027.

Just minutes after the government event ended, Giannoulias’ campaign office sent out a fundraising pitch highlighting the change as “my most exciting day in office yet” and soliciting donations.

Asked whether he’s still considering a campaign for Chicago mayor, Giannoulias didn’t deny it and pivoted back to the Apple Wallet driver’s licenses.

“I’m so focused on this. That’s the only thing I’m thinking about. And I’m — I’m not upset about the question, it’s my job. But I think in general, we need to rebuild trust in government, and we promised to do this when I ran for this office,” Giannoulias said. “Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, you should be excited about today.”

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