Login.gov to add facial recognition tech

Westend61/Getty images

The General Services Administration is changing its digital identity service to allow users to authenticate themselves by matching against a previously submitted government ID.

The General Services Administration will add facial recognition technology to Login.gov, a single sign-on service for Americans to get government benefits and services online, the agency announced Wednesday. 

The agency said in its Wednesday announcement it will be rolling out the technology next year. GSA says it will also add another new digital identity verification option for those who don't want to use facial recognition technology. This method is still to be determined but it could involve real-time identity verification via live video chat or other platform.

"Login will provide the options and agencies will decide which parts of it to use," Ann Lewis, director of the Technology Transformation Services at GSA, told Nextgov/FCW. "The goal of providing this broad swath of options is to be able to meet agencies where they are, meet needs where they are, meet the fraud landscape where it is and be able to use all that information and best-in-class technology tools to best serve the population."

The change will likely be felt by many interfacing with the government online.

Login.gov is currently used in at least one program or app in every Cabinet-level agency — and in over 40 federal and state agencies total — for programs like unemployment insurance, online personal health records for veterans and more. Over 70 million people have used Login.gov since the service launched in 2017.

Both the facial recognition and video chat options are part of GSA’s push to bring the service in line with government digital identity standards established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. GSA’s Inspector General lambasted officials for misleading other federal agencies using the service about its level of compliance in a report earlier this year. Using facial recognition technology is the easiest way to meet those standards online.

“These features will provide virtual and in-person ways for people to verify their identities and securely access vital government benefits and services using convenient, cutting-edge technology, while ensuring their data remains safe,” an agency blog post announcing the change reads. “These offerings will complement Login.gov’s already strong anti-fraud capabilities and provide an even stronger identity verification solution to protect against increasingly sophisticated identity fraud and cyber attacks.”

Login.gov’s in-person option offered at U.S. Postal Service locations is the third way to meet NIST standards for identity proofing, called identity assurance level two. In online situations, Login.gov currently uses data checks of government ID’s and phone numbers or addresses to verify people’s identities, relying at least in part on data vendor LexisNexis.

The decision to add facial recognition is a big change for the agency. 

GSA told Nextgov/FCW in early 2022 that it wouldn’t use the technology "until rigorous review has given us confidence that we can do so equitably and without causing harm to vulnerable populations." At that time, the IRS was being criticized for its use of facial recognition technology via vendor ID.me. The IRS considered making use of Login.gov, but ultimately has not yet added Login’s IAL2-level services. Agency officials voiced strong concerns about anti-fraud controls at Login.gov and the fact that the service did not meet IAL2.

GSA announced a study on the equity of facial recognition in early 2022 “to make a data driven decision on whether to pursue facial verification capabilities for Login.gov in the near term,” and in August the agency released more information and started recruiting participants. 

A major question the agency says it’s studying — one that is of urgent interest to advocates opposed to facial recognition technology as well — is whether or not facial recognition systems have bias in terms of skin tone and demographics. 

Opponents of facial recognition often cite a 2019 NIST study that found evidence for demographic differentials in the majority of algorithms it studied. At the time, NIST found, for example, higher rates of false positives in one-to-one matching for Asian and African American people relative to white people, although since then NIST officials have stressed to policymakers that performance differs across different algorithms and that the technology overall has improved since 2019. 

Still, researchers at the Department of Homeland Security have said it is unclear exactly how well remote identity verification tech that compares ID photos to selfies works.

GSA will be using “best-in-class facial matching algorithms,” it says in the Wednesday announcement. It will also “continue to gather evidence to help evaluate the effectiveness of the Login.gov product across demographic groups” and “monitor for algorithmic bias in identity verification.” 

The agency said that user data “will never be used for any purpose unrelated to verifying your identity by Login.gov or any vendors we contract with.” Login.gov is using one-to-one matching in which selfies are only compared to the ID an individual submits, as opposed to the more controversial one-to-many matching technology.

“As Login.gov is operated by the U.S. government, this ensures that any access to benefits or services using Login.gov is a private interaction between a user and their government,” the blog reads. “Providing those interacting with their own government with a way to verify their digital identity that protects their security and privacy while also ensuring equity and access is more important than ever… Login.gov will offer agencies a range of options that meet their needs.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.