As of today, there's 365 days before N.C. REAL ID, a new driver’s license that complies with federal identification security requirements, takes effect on October 1, 2020. This is a federal mandate, with all states and territories obligated to comply.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the REAL ID's were conceptualized to establish minimum security standards for state-issued drivers licenses. On the DHS'sREAL ID FAQ website, it notes REAL ID's are not national identification cards, meaning the federal government will not keep databases of driver license information from the card. Rather, each jurisdiction will continue to issue its own unique license, maintains its own records, and control who gets access to those records and under what.