Digital forms of identification

2025-2026 Bill 4809: Digital forms of identification - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 4809
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Gilreath, Cromer, Chumley and Edgerton
Document Path: LC-0360DG26.docx
Introduced in the House on January 13, 2026
Currently residing in the House Committee on
Education and Public Works
Summary: Digital forms of identification
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

12/16/2025

House

Prefiled

12/16/2025

House

Referred to Committee on
Education and Public Works

1/13/2026

House

Introduced and read first time (
House Journal-page 97
)

1/13/2026

House

Referred to Committee on
Education and Public Works
(
House Journal-page 97
)

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
12/17/2025

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING ARTICLE
29 TO TITLE 1, CHAPTER 1, SO AS TO DEFINE A "DIGITAL FORM OF IDENTIFICATION",
AND PROVIDE THAT A PUBLIC ENTITY IS NOT AUTHORIZED TO USE SUCH FORMS OF
IDENTIFICATION; BY ADDING SECTION
56-1-560
, SO AS TO DEFINE "MOBILE DRIVER'S
LICENSE", AND PROVIDE THAT A PERSON IS NOT REQUIRED TO OBTAIN A MOBILE DRIVER'S
LICENSE; AND BY ADDING SECTION
39-1-100
, SO AS TO ALLOW A PRIVATE ENTITY TO USE
A DIGITAL FORM OF IDENTIFICATION WHEN INTERACTING WITH A PERSON, TO PROVIDE
THAT FOR THE PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA, AND TO PROVIDE CIRCUMSTANCES WHEN A
PERSON MAY BRING A CAUSE OF ACTION IN A COURT OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION.

B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
C
hapter 1, Title 1 of the S.C. Code is amended by
adding:

A
rticle 29

D
igital Forms of Identification

S
ection
1-1-1810
.
(
A) As used in this
section:

(
1)
"Digital form of identification" means any name or number that may be used,
alone or in conjunction with any other information, to identify a specific
individual, including any of the following:

(
a)
name, Social Security number, date of birth, official state or government
issued driver's license or identification number, alien registration number,
government passport number, employer or taxpayer identification number;

(
b)
unique biometric data, such as fingerprint, voice print, retina or iris image,
or other unique physical representation;

(
c)
unique electronic identification number, address, or routing code; or

(
d)
telecommunication identifying information or access device.

(
2)
"Minor" means any person under eighteen years of age.

(
3)
"Parent" means a biological, foster, or adoptive parent, a stepparent, or a
legal guardian.

(
4)
"Personal data" means any information relating to an identifiable natural
person.

(
5)
"Place of public accommodation" means the same as that term is defined in
Section
45-9-10
.

(
6)
"Public entity" means the State of South Carolina, any department, division,
board, commission, or other instrumentality of the State, and any political
subdivision of the State, including any school district or public institution
of higher education.

(
B) A
public entity shall not require any person to obtain or maintain any digital
form of identification.

(
C) A
public entity may offer the use of a digital form of identification when
interacting with any person provided the person is not required to obtain or
use such digital form of identification and a physical form of identification
is offered and can be used in lieu of the digital form of identification.

(
D)
(
1) A person who has agreed to use a
digital form of identification shall be permitted, upon request, to view,
correct, remove, destroy, or restrict the usage of all personal data associated
with the person's own identification.

(
2)
A person who has authorized the usage of any personal data associated with the
person's digital form of identification. A person requires written consent for
each purpose.

(
3)
Personal data of any person only may be collected by a public entity for the
purpose stated by the public entity and only upon the consent of each
individual person, or in the case of a minor, only upon consent of a parent of
the minor.

(
4)
Personal data of any person shall not be sold or transferred to any public or
private entity without the consent of the person. Requires written consent and
the dollar amount information is sold for and must be listed if the company
that purchased information has the right to sell it to another company without
authorization.

(
E)
(
1) A public entity shall not, with
respect to any individual person, take any action or refuse to take any action
based solely on the personal data of a person.

(
2)
A digital form of identification shall not be required by a public entity to
enter any place of public accommodation.

(
F)
Any person may bring a cause of action in a court of competent jurisdiction if
the person alleges that a public entity has violated this section. A public
entity found by a court to have violated this section shall be liable to the
person affected for not more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars per
occurrence.

(
G)
This section shall not be construed to prohibit any public entity from
complying with any lawful request from a law enforcement agency with respect to
any person's personal data.

S
ECTION 2.
A
rticle 1, Chapter 1, Title 56 of the S.C. Code is
amended by adding:

S
ection
56-1-560
.
(
A)
(
1) No person is required to obtain a
mobile driver's license.

(
2)
A driver's license, including a mobile driver's license, shall not be linked
with any automated license plate reader in this State without the written
consent of such person to whom the driver's license belongs.

(
B)
For purposes of this section, the term "mobile driver's license" means a data
file that:

(
1)
is available on a mobile device that has connectivity to the internet through
an application that allows the mobile device to download the data file from the
Department of Motor Vehicles;

(
2)
contains all of the same data elements visible on the face and back of the
driver's license issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles; and

(
3)
displays the current status of the driver's license.

S
ECTION 3.
C
hapter 1, Title 39 of the S.C. Code is amended by
adding:

S
ection
39-1-100
.
(
A) As used in this
section:

(
1)
"Digital form of identification" means any name or number that may be used,
alone or in conjunction with any other information, to identify a specific
individual, including any of the following:

(
a)
name, Social Security number, date of birth, official state or government
issued driver's license or identification number, alien registration number,
government passport number, employer or taxpayer identification number;

(
b)
unique biometric data, such as fingerprint, voice print, retina or iris image,
or other unique physical representation;

(
c)
unique electronic identification number, address, or routing code; or

(
d)
telecommunication identifying information or access device.

(
2)
"Personal data" means any information relating to an identifiable natural
person.

(
3)
"Private entity" means any for profit or not-for-profit organization,
association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited partnership,
limited liability partnership, limited liability company, or other entity or
business association, including all wholly owned subsidiaries, majority-owned
subsidiaries, parent companies, or affiliates of those entities or business
associations.

(
B)
(
1) A private entity may offer the use
of a digital form of identification when interacting with any person. A person
who has agreed to use a digital form of identification when interacting with a
private entity must be permitted, upon request, to view, correct, remove,
destroy, or restrict the usage of all personal data associated with the
person's own digital form of identification associated with the private entity.

(
2)
A person who has authorized the usage by a private entity of any personal data
associated with the person's digital form of identification for one purpose is
not deemed authorization for any other purpose. Written consent must be given
by the person for each purpose.

(
3)
Personal data of any person may only be collected by a private entity for the
purpose stated by the private entity and only upon the consent of each
individual person.

(
4)
Personal data of any person shall not be sold or transferred to any public or
private entity without the consent of the person.

(
C) A
private entity shall not, with respect to any individual person, take any
action or refuse to take any action based solely on the personal data of a
person.

(
D)
Any person may bring a cause of action in a court of competent jurisdiction if
the person alleges that a business entity has violated this section. A business
entity found by a court to have violated this section must be liable to the affected
person for not more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars per occurrence.

(
E)
This section must not be construed to prohibit any business entity from
complying with any lawful request from a law enforcement agency with respect to
any person's personal data.

S
ECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on January 13, 2026 at 2:41 PM