Your driver's license may not be enough to get you through TSA airport security in 2016

(Image credit: (Sara D. Davis/Getty Images))

last updated 29 December 2015

If you live in Washington State, Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, or Minnesota, you may be the first to run into planned enforcement by the Transportation Security Administration of a 2005 law that sets federal standards for state driver's licenses. In October, the federal government started requiring visitors to military bases, nuclear plants, and other federal facilities to show either a driver's license from a state that complies with the Real ID Act or another accepted form of government ID, like a passport; TSA checkpoints at U.S. airports could follow suit in 2016, The New York Times reports.

Only 20 states are currently compliant with the law's enhanced security and ID measures. Minnesota and American Samoa are considered not compliant and haven't been granted waivers. The waivers for Washington, Illinois, Missouri, and New Mexico haven't been extended yet and expire on Jan. 10, 2016. The Department of Homeland Security can still issue waivers for any state, and says it "will ensure that the traveling public has ample notice (at least, 120 days) before any changes are made that might affect their travel planning." You can check the status of all states at the DHS website.

The Real ID Act, passed on recommendation from the 9/11 Commission, has been controversial since the start, with more than a dozen state legislatures banning compliance with the law and privacy advocates and civil liberties groups opposed to its data-sharing requirements. Along with requiring proof of identification, Social Security number, and immigration status to get a driver's license, the law mandates that licenses have some sort of "machine readable" chip or magnetic strip to allow authorized access to that information. The federal government can't force states to comply, but the ability to bar the use of certain driver's licenses at airport security is a pretty big bargaining chip.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.