Digital Identity

Full Title or Meme

Digital Identity is a label that has come to stand for a US government process of identifying natural persons. That is what this page addresses.

Context

A person's Digital Identity should apply to every piece of that person that has been digitized, but the actual use of the term has been confused in the US with the process of associating a digital connection with a person, either natural or other.

History of actions by government

• The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved 24 bills on Wednesday, many of which aim to secure federal systems and enhance government operations around data management and digital identity.
• Senate bill was introduced by Sinema in 2023.
• Support for adoption of the bill increased near the end of the term in part by Trade groups urge Congress to pass digital identity bill. See the The Better Identity Coalition which is led by lobbyist Jeremy Grant of Venable. It is more that likely a bill that he helped to draft.

  The lack of an easy, secure, reliable way for entities to verify identities of people they are dealing with online creates friction in commerce, leads to increased fraud and theft, degrades privacy and hinders the availability of many services online... In 2022, the ability to offer high-value transactions and services online is being tested more than ever, due in large part to the challenges of proving identity online.

• Senate bill 4528 - Improving Digital Identity Act of 2022 Sine it was first introduced is included requirement for inclusion or equitable access through the action of a task force that would report back to the US Congress.

  This bill establishes the Improving Digital Identity Task Force to establish a government-wide effort to develop secure methods for governmental agencies to protect the privacy and security of individuals and support reliable, interoperable digital identity verification in the public and private sectors. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall award grants to states, local, tribal, and territorial governments to upgrade systems that provide drivers' licenses or other types of identity credentials to support the development of highly secure, interoperable systems that enable digital identity verification. The Government Accountability Office shall submit to Congress a report on the estimated potential savings, due to the increased adoption and widespread use of digital identification, of (1) the federal government from averted benefit fraud, and (2) the U.S. economy and consumers from averted identity theft.

• During the COVID pandemic $45 billion in unemployment paid to fraudsters during pandemic, watchdog says. Which created attempts to stem the losses.