ISO/IEC 18013-2:2008 establishes guidelines for the content and formatting of data stored on an ISO compliant driving licence (IDL) using machine-readable technologies. It creates a common basis for the international use of IDL data without restricting individual domestic or regional driver licensing authorities from applying their specific data policies.

ISO/IEC 18013-2:2008 specifies the following items.

• Mandatory and optional machine-readable data. Machine-readable IDL data support the following functions (subject in some cases to the inclusion of appropriate optional data elements):
• confirming the driving privileges of a driver;
• enabling a link to be established to a driving privilege database;
• age verification;
• identity verification;
• biographical data verification;
• evidence of residence;
• biometric authentication;
• document authentication and validation.
• The logical data structure.
• Encoding methods for the following:
• cases where the memory capacity available to the IDL application does not exceed 5 kB, typically applicable to 2D barcode symbologies, high-coercivity high-density magnetic stripe and limited memory capacity integrated circuits (contactless and those with contacts);
• integrated circuits (contactless and those with contacts) where the memory capacity available to the IDL application exceeds 5 kB;
• optical memory.