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Mark Freeman
Digital driver licences are coming to New Zealand this year, offering convenience but also bringing the risks of government overreach and privacy breaches.
From around mid-2026 New Zealanders will be able to store their licences on a government app on their smartphones. Users’ digital credentials – such as their names, photos and dates of birth – will be encrypted and stored on their devices. A user will be able to choose which information to share, such as their legal age, without revealing their name, date of birth or other personal information. The credentials will be authenticated through biometrics – facial scans or fingerprints.
The new licence is part of a push by the New Zealand Government to introduce a digital identity system that could eventually be used for multiple services, such as car registration, tax and birth, death and marriage certificates. In May 2025 it launched NZ Verify, an app that verifies international digital credentials, making travel in New Zealand easier. An all-of-government app, Govt.nz, was released in December 2025.
Potential government overreach
One major concern with digital driver licences is that they could be a step towards government overreach.The Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement warns the licences will lead to greater state surveillance and exclusion. Every time your licence is “accessed or presented, a record can be generated, stored and potentially cross-referenced with other information about you”, the group says. Carrying a plastic card may be less convenient, but it gives a measure of independence, they say.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has introduced his own member’s bill to guard against “digital overreach” and protect personal choice and privacy. The bill would mandate that organisations accept hard-copy versions of drivers’ licences and passports.
However, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says Mr Peters’ concerns have already been addressed. “The government’s changes to enable digital driver’s licences do not do away with physical driver licence cards… The point of our reforms is to give people the choice.”
Despite this assurance, there is a high risk of ‘function creep’ with digital driver licences, where their use expands over time beyond their original purpose. New Zealand privacy advocacy group PILLAR warns that access to essential services like driver licences, banking and welfare through digital ID will eventually become mandatory in practice. A stark example of function creep is India’s digital ID system Aadhaar, which started as an optional service but is now effectively mandatory. The Aadhaar ID card is needed to buy houses or cars, open bank accounts and receive government benefits.
PILLAR’s executive director Nathan Seiuli says optionality in the use of digital ID services is an illusion. “We cannot trade fundamental freedoms for minor administrative gains,” he says.
Privacy concerns
Another cause of concern regarding the new digital licence is external agencies getting access to our personal data. The Department of Internal Affairs says digital credentials will be stored on users’ devices and not stored in the cloud. However, the backend systems that store driver-licence data may use cloud infrastructure.
The New Zealand Transport Agency, which is the legal government authority for driver licences, keeps licence holders’ personal information in a centralised driver licence register. NZTA has not stated whether any of this information is stored in the cloud, but do we know it stores different types of data in the cloud using third-party providers such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS). The backend databases and authentication systems of the Govt.nz app and NZ Verify also use the cloud infrastructure of Microsoft Azure and AWS.
These companies’ servers are located offshore and/or are under US jurisdiction. Under the US Cloud Act, in certain circumstances US authorities can force these cloud service providers to disclose data, even data stored outside the United States. If a US-based cloud provider is presented with a valid warrant covering New Zealanders’ information, the provider would likely give access to that information, says New Zealand law firm Buddle Findlay.
What members of the public think about digital ID
Meanwhile, at a recent street fair in Petone, Lower Hutt, members of the public expressed a range of views on the broader topic of digital ID. While some who were approached didn’t know enough to speak on the topic or were otherwise camera-shy, others voiced concerns.
One man did not like the idea of goods and services purchased being tracked and traced. Another man’s concern about digital ID was that information would be leaked although he wasn’t worried about his own privacy as he has “nothing to hide”. However, being tracked constantly is of concern even if you’re not doing anything wrong, according to a woman from the United States who said global big tech companies are keeping tabs on us. In the US, there is a lot of surveillance and attacks on free speech, she said.
One 14-year-old was concerned that digital ID would remove the anonymity of the internet. He opposed the government’s proposed social media ban for under-16s and called moves towards digital ID, including the digital driver licence, “a bit of an overreach”, he said: “Maybe it’s not for security. I think maybe there’s an ulterior motive to this.”
One man called the proposal to ban social media for under-16s “absurd”.
One woman at an information stall on digital ID said it will bring about increasing surveillance and control. The worst-case scenario is that once everything is known about you, it will be easier to bring in a behaviour-based system that could lead to restrictions, rationing and loss of access to services, she said. A man at the same stall had similar views, saying there are long-term plans for a digital ID system that will control everything we do, similar to China’s social credit system.
The woman at the stall suggested a number of ways to push back against digital ID: continue using physical identification; push for greater oversight of businesses’ privacy policies; use cash for anonymity; and develop bartering systems in local communities.
