U.S. Driver's License Number (Multi-State)

A multi-state helper for detecting U.S. driver's license numbers using the real structural formats of several high-population states, rather than the broad "letter + 7-12 digits" catch-all. Covers California, New York, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, and Illinois. This is a companion to the generic us-drivers-license pattern (which it does not replace); use it when you want tighter, state-aware matching for those jurisdictions.

Type: regex
Engine: universal
Confidence: medium
Confidence justification: Medium confidence: the letter-prefixed state formats are structurally distinctive, but the purely numeric NY/TX formats (8-9 digits) overlap with generic numbers, so corroborative DMV keywords are required for reliable detection.
Jurisdictions: us
Regulations: State Breach Laws (US), CCPA/CPRA
Frameworks: ISO 27001, ISO 27701
Data categories: pii, government-id
Scope: narrow
Risk rating: 6
Platform compatibility: Purview: Compatible, GCP DLP: Compatible, Macie: Compatible, Zscaler: Compatible, Palo Alto: Compatible, Netskope: Compatible

Pattern

\b[A-Z]\d{18}\b|\b[A-Z]\d{14}\b|\b[A-Z]\d{11,12}\b|\b[A-Z]\d{7}\b|\b\d{8,9}\b

Corroborative evidence keywords

driver, driver's license, drivers license, driver license, driving licence, license number, DL, DL number, DMV, motor vehicle, state ID, identification card, class C, REAL ID

Proximity: 300 characters

Should match

CA DL: D1234567 — California format — 1 letter + 7 digits
FL license F123456789012 — Florida format — 1 letter + 12 digits
NJ driver license N12345678901234 — New Jersey format — 1 letter + 14 digits

Should not match

123456 — Six digits — too few for any covered numeric state format
AB1234567 — Two leading letters — no covered state uses a two-letter prefix
Please bring your driver's license to the DMV appointment — Prose about a driver's license with no number value

Known false positives

Generic 8-9 digit numbers (order IDs, account numbers, ZIP+4 concatenations) that collide with the numeric NY/TX formats. Mitigation: Require corroborative DMV/driver-license keywords within the proximity window; prefer the letter-prefixed state formats which are far more distinctive.
Letter-prefixed product codes or part numbers that coincide with a state license length. Mitigation: Combine with state-name or DMV context keywords and exclude known catalogue/SKU document types.