To establish legal identity in the United States, three documents are generally used: birth certificate, driver’s license, and personal identification card.[1]To obtain a driver’s license in Northern Mariana, you must satisfy a number of requirements such as complete a driver’s education course, provide proof of age and a legal ID, pass a driver’s test, and other requirements.[2]Northern Mariana Identification Cards were issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in 1990 as a means of evidence of U.S. citizenship and can still be used to prove identity and citizenship.[3]
No national Digital ID system currently exists within Northern Mariana or at the federal level in the United States. Digital ID currently exists on a state-by-state basis with only some states, such as Colorado, offering a form of digital identification.[4]
Domestic law and policy regarding digital identity exists on a state-by-state basis. No such movement towards digital ID exists in Northern Mariana. While the U.S. Congress is currently considering a Digital ID law, that law is currently in the very early stages of the legislative process.[5]
The United States currently does not have a comprehensive data protection and privacy law at the federal level. The law directs certain industries, such as healthcare providers under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) and financial institutions under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), on how to use and protect sensitive data.[6]Industries must limit collection of data of children under the age of 13 and obtain guardian or parental consent before obtaining personal information of underaged children under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.[7]
While the United States is not a party to any international framework, agreement, or treaty that obligates the United States to conduct itself in a certain way regarding digital IDs, the United States is a member of a number of organizations studying the best path forward regarding digital IDs. As a member of the OECD, the United States was a party to a G7 Mapping Exercise of Digital Identity Approaches to inform discussions within the G7 Digital and Technology Working Group.[8]The United States also plays a role in shaping standards in the private sector, including digital ID, with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the documents they release to shape industry standards.[9]
The United States does not currently violate any obligations through the implementation of the Digital ID system.
The Impact of Digital ID and Legal Identity on Citizenship and Nationality Rights
Without a digital ID system, there are currently no implications of digital ID on statelessness in the NMI.
‘CRM 1508. Specifically mentioned Identification Documents – 18 U.S.C. 1028’ (U.S. Dept. of Justice) <https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-1508-specifically-mentioned-identification-documents-18-usc-1028> accessed 13 February 2025.
‘Title 150-50.6: Mandatory Driver Education Rules and Regulations’ (Commonwealth Law Revision Commission) <https://cnmilaw.org/pdf/admincode/T150/T150-50.6.pd> accessed 13 February 2025; 9 CMC § 2208 <https://cnmilaw.org/pdf/cmc_section/T9/2208.pdf> accessed 13 February 2025.
8 FAM 302.2-6 <https://fam.state.gov/fam/08fam/08fam030202.html#:~:text=All%20persons%20born%20in%20the%20CNMI%20after%20November%203%2C%201986,303%20of%20the%20CNMI%20covenant>; ‘Application for Replacement of Northern Mariana Card’ <https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/DownloadDocument?objectID=20271701>.
‘Colorado Digital ID’ (myColorado) <https://mycolorado.gov/colorado-digital-id> accessed 13 February 2025.
