Ballot SMC015v2: Allow mDL for authentication of individual identity
[IPR Review] Ballot SMC015v2: Allow mDL for authentication of individual identity
This Review Notice is sent pursuant to Section 4.1 of the CA/Browser Forum’s Intellectual Property Rights Policy (v1.3). This Review Period of 30 days is for one Final Maintenance Guidelines. The complete Draft Maintenance Guideline that is the subject of this Review Notice is attached to this email, and may be found at: https://cabforum.org/uploads/CA-Browser-Forum-SMIMEBR-1.0.13-Redline.pdf.
Summary of Review
Ballot for Review: Ballot SMC015v2: Allow mDL for authentication of individual identity
Start of Review Period: 2026-02-25 22:00:00 UTC
End of Review Period: 2026-03-27 22:00:00 UTC
Members with any Essential Claim(s) to exclude must forward a written Notice to Exclude Essential Claims to the Working Group Chair (email to stephen.davidson at digicert.com) and also submit a copy to the CA/B Forum public mailing list (email to public at cabforum.org) before the end of the Review Period.
For details, please see the current version of the CA/Browser Forum Intellectual Property Rights Policy. (An optional template for submitting an Exclusion Notice is available at https://cabforum.org/wp-content/uploads/Template-for-Exclusion-Notice.pdf)
[Voting Results] Ballot SMC015v2: Allow mDL for authentication of individual identity
The voting period for SMC015v2: Allow mDL for Authentication of Individual Identity has completed. The ballot has: PASSED
Voting Results
Certificate Issuers
17 votes in total:
* 17 voting YES: Asseco Data Systems SA (Certum), DigiCert, D-TRUST, eMudhra, GlobalSign, HARICA, IdenTrust, Logius PKIoverheid, OISTE Foundation, SECOM Trust Systems, Sectigo, SHECA, SSL.com, SwissSign, Telia Company, TrustAsia, TWCA
* 0 voting NO:
* 0 ABSTAIN:
Certificate Consumers
4 votes in total:
* 4 voting YES: Apple, Microsoft, Mozilla, rundQuadrat
* 0 voting NO:
* 0 ABSTAIN:
Bylaws Requirements
- Bylaw 2.3(6) requires: * In order for a ballot to be adopted by the Forum, two‐thirds (2/3) or more of the votes cast by the Voting Members in the Certificate Issuer category must be in favor of the ballot. This requirement was MET. * at least fifty percent (50%) plus one (1) of the votes cast by the Voting Members in the Certificate Consumer category must be in favor of the ballot. This requirement was MET. * At least one (1) Voting Member in each category must vote in favor of a ballot for the ballot to be adopted. This requirement was MET.
- Bylaw 2.3(7) requires: * A ballot result will be considered valid only when more than half of the number of currently active Voting Members has participated. The number of currently active Voting Members is the average number of Voting Member organizations that have participated in the previous three (3) Forum Meetings and Forum Teleconferences. * the quorum was 9 for this ballot. This requirement was MET.
This ballot now enters the IP Rights Review Period to permit members to review the ballot for relevant IP rights issues. This will be notified in a separate email.
Ballot SMC015v2: Allow mDL for authentication of individual identity
Summary:
This ballot introduces requirements that a CA or RA must follow to rely upon a Mobile Drivers License (mDL) to provide evidence for the authentication of individual identity. It allows the use of mDL that conform to ISO/IEC 18013-5 and which may be verified by the CA or RA in conformance with ISO/IEC 18013-7. The CA or RA shall only accept mDL from an Issuing Authority that is legally authorized by the relevant government or jurisdiction to issue driving licenses.
The draft also aligns the subsections of 3.2.4.2 (Validation of individual identity) to correspond more closely with those in 3.2.4.1 (Attribute collection of individual identity). It also includes minor editorial corrections. SMC015v2 was updated to remove an additional reference to the superceded ETSI EN 319 403.
This ballot is proposed by Stephen Davidson (DigiCert) and endorsed by Ben Wilson (Mozilla) and Scott Rea (eMudhra).
— Motion Begins —
This ballot modifies the “Baseline Requirements for the Issuance and Management of Publicly-Trusted S/MIME Certificates” (“S/MIME Baseline Requirements”), based on Version 1.0.12.
MODIFY the Baseline Requirements as specified in the following Redline:
— Motion Ends —
This ballot proposes a Final Maintenance Guideline. The procedure for approval of this ballot is as follows:
Discussion (at least 7 days)
Start time: February 11, 2026 at 18:30:00 UTC
End time: February 18, 2026 at 18:30:00 UTC
Voting for Approval
Start time: February 18, 2026 at 20:00:00 UTC
End time: February 25, 2026 at 20:00:00 UTC