I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9783 

To establish a Government-wide approach to improving digital identity, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2024 

Mr. FOSTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Accountability 

A BILL 

To establish a Government-wide approach to improving 

digital identity, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Digital 

5 Identity Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The lack of an easy, affordable, reliable, 

9 and secure way for organizations, businesses, and 

10 government agencies to identify whether an indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Oct 08, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9783.IH H9783

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1 vidual is who they claim to be online creates an at2 tack vector that is widely exploited by adversaries in 

3 cyberspace and precludes many high-value trans4 actions from being available online. 

5 (2) Incidents of identity theft and identity 

6 fraud continue to rise in the United States, where 

7 more than 293,000,000 people were impacted by 

8 data breaches in 2021. 

9 (3) Since 2017, losses resulting from identity 

10 fraud have increased by 333 percent, and, in 2020, 

11 those losses totaled $56,000,000,000. 

12 (4) The Director of the Financial Crimes En13 forcement Network of the Department of the Treas14 ury has stated that the abuse of personally identifi15 able information and other building blocks of iden16 tity is a key enabler behind much of the fraud and 

17 cybercrime affecting the United States today. 

18 (5) The inadequacy of current digital identity 

19 solutions degrades security and privacy for all people 

20 in the United States, and next generation solutions 

21 are needed that improve security, privacy, equity, 

22 and accessibility. 

23 (6) Government entities, as authoritative 

24 issuers of identity in the United States, are uniquely 

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1 dress deficiencies in the digital identity infrastruc2 ture of the United States and augment private sec3 tor digital identity and authentication solutions. 

4 (7) State governments are particularly well-suit5 ed to play a role in enhancing digital identity solu6 tions used by both the public and private sectors, 

7 given the role of State governments as the issuers of 

8 driver’s licenses and other identity documents com9 monly used today. 

10 (8) The public and private sectors should col11 laborate to deliver solutions that promote confidence, 

12 privacy, choice, equity, accessibility, and innovation. 

13 The private sector drives much of the innovation 

14 around digital identity in the United States and has 

15 an important role to play in delivering digital iden16 tity solutions. 

17 (9) The bipartisan Commission on Enhancing 

18 National Cybersecurity has called for the Federal 

19 Government to ‘‘create an interagency task force di20 rected to find secure, user-friendly, privacy-centric 

21 ways in which agencies can serve as 1 authoritative 

22 source to validate identity attributes in the broader 

23 identity market. This action would enable Govern24 ment agencies and the private sector to drive signifi25 cant risk out of new account openings and other 


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1 high-risk, high-value online services, and it would 

2 help all citizens more easily and securely engage in 

3 transactions online.’’. 

4 (10) It should be the policy of the Federal Gov5 ernment to use the authorities and capabilities of the 

6 Federal Government, in coordination with State, 

7 local, Tribal, and territorial partners and private 

8 sector innovators, to enhance the security, reliability, 

9 privacy, equity, accessibility, and convenience of con10 sent-based digital identity solutions that support and 

11 protect transactions between individuals, government 

12 entities, and businesses, and that enable people in 

13 the United States to prove who they are online. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) APPROPRIATE NOTIFICATION ENTITIES.— 

17 The term ‘‘appropriate notification entities’’ 

18 means— 

19 (A) the President; 

20 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

21 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 

22 (C) the Committee on Oversight and Ac23 countability of the House of Representatives. 

24 (2) DIGITAL IDENTITY VERIFICATION.—The 

25 term ‘‘digital identity verification’’ means a process 


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1 to verify the identity or an identity attribute of an 

2 individual accessing a service online or through an3 other electronic means. 

4 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

5 the Director of the Task Force. 

6 (4) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

7 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

8 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

9 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 

10 (5) IDENTITY ATTRIBUTE.—The term ‘‘identity 

11 attribute’’ means a data element associated with the 

12 identity of an individual, including, the name, ad13 dress, or date of birth of an individual. 

14 (6) IDENTITY CREDENTIAL.—The term ‘‘iden15 tity credential’’ means a document or other evidence 

16 of the identity of an individual issued by a govern17 ment agency that conveys the identity of the indi18 vidual, including a driver’s license or passport. 

19 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

20 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

21 (8) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘‘Task Force’’ 

22 means the Improving Digital Identity Task Force 

23 established under section 4(a). 


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1 SEC. 4. IMPROVING DIGITAL IDENTITY TASK FORCE. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

3 Executive Office of the President a task force to be known 

4 as the ‘‘Improving Digital Identity Task Force’’. 

5 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Task Force shall 

6 be to establish and coordinate a government-wide effort 

7 to develop secure methods for Federal, State, local, Tribal, 

8 and territorial agencies to improve access and enhance se9 curity between physical and digital identity credentials, 

10 particularly by promoting the development of digital 

11 versions of existing physical identity credentials, including 

12 driver’s licenses, e-Passports, social security credentials, 

13 and birth certificates, to— 

14 (1) protect the privacy and security of individ15 uals; 

16 (2) support reliable, interoperable digital iden17 tity verification in the public and private sectors; 

18 and 

19 (3) in achieving paragraphs (1) and (2), place 

20 a particular emphasis on— 

21 (A) reducing identity theft and fraud; 

22 (B) enabling trusted transactions; and 

23 (C) ensuring equitable access to digital 

24 identity verification. 

25 (c) DIRECTOR.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall have 

2 a Director, who shall be appointed by the President. 

3 (2) POSITION.—The Director shall serve at the 

4 pleasure of the President. 

5 (3) PAY AND ALLOWANCES.—The Director shall 

6 be compensated at the rate of basic pay prescribed 

7 for level II of the Executive Schedule under section 

8 5313 of title 5, United States Code. 

9 (4) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Director shall have 

10 substantive technical expertise and managerial acu11 men that— 

12 (A) is in the business of digital identity 

13 management, information security, or benefits 

14 administration; 

15 (B) is gained from not less than 1 organi16 zation; and 

17 (C) includes specific expertise gained from 

18 academia, advocacy organizations, or the pri19 vate sector. 

20 (5) EXCLUSIVITY.—The Director may not serve 

21 in any other capacity within the Federal Government 

22 while serving as Director. 

23 (6) TERM.—The term of the Director, including 

24 any official acting in the role of the Director, shall 

25 terminate on the date described in subsection (k). 


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1 (d) MEMBERSHIP.— 

2 (1) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REPRESENTA3 TIVES.—The Task Force shall include the following 

4 individuals or the designees of such individuals: 

5 (A) The Secretary. 

6 (B) The Secretary of the Treasury. 

7 (C) The Director of the National Institute 

8 of Standards and Technology. 

9 (D) The Director of the Financial Crimes 

10 Enforcement Network. 

11 (E) The Commissioner of Social Security. 

12 (F) The Secretary of State. 

13 (G) The Administrator of General Services. 

14 (H) The Director of the Office of Manage15 ment and Budget. 

16 (I) The Postmaster General of the United 

17 States Postal Service. 

18 (J) The National Cyber Director. 

19 (K) The Attorney General. 

20 (L) The heads of other Federal agencies or 

21 offices as the President may designate or invite, 

22 as appropriate. 

23 (2) STATE, LOCAL, TRIBAL, AND TERRITORIAL

24 GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES.—The Director 

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1 al, or territorial government officials who represent 

2 agencies that issue identity credentials and who 

3 have— 

4 (A) experience in identity technology and 

5 services; 

6 (B) knowledge of the systems used to pro7 vide identity credentials; or 

8 (C) any other qualifications or com9 petencies that may help achieve balance or oth10 erwise support the mission of the Task Force. 

11 (3) NONGOVERNMENTAL EXPERTS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall ap13 point to the Task Force 5 nongovernmental ex14 perts. 

15 (B) SPECIFIC APPOINTMENTS.—The ex16 perts appointed under subparagraph (A) shall 

17 include the following: 

18 (i) A member who is a privacy and 

19 civil liberties expert. 

20 (ii) A member who is a technical ex21 pert in identity verification. 

22 (iii) A member who is a technical ex23 pert in cybersecurity focusing on identity 

24 verification services. 


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1 (iv) A member who represents the 

2 identity verification services industry. 

3 (v) A member who represents a party 

4 that relies on effective identity verification 

5 services to conduct business. 

6 (e) WORKING GROUPS.—The Director shall organize 

7 the members of the Task Force into appropriate working 

8 groups for the purpose of increasing the efficiency and ef9 fectiveness of the Task Force, as appropriate. 

10 (f) MEETINGS.—The Task Force shall— 

11 (1) convene at the call of the Director; and 

12 (2) provide an opportunity for public comment 

13 in accordance with section 1009(a)(3) of title 5, 

14 United States Code. 

15 (g) DUTIES.—In carrying out the purpose described 

16 in subsection (b), the Task Force shall— 

17 (1) identify Federal, State, local, Tribal, and 

18 territorial agencies that issue identity credentials or 

19 hold information relating to identifying an indi20 vidual; 

21 (2) assess restrictions with respect to the abili22 ties of the agencies described in paragraph (1) to 

23 verify identity information for other agencies and 

24 nongovernmental organizations; 


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1 (3) assess any necessary changes in statutes, 

2 regulations, or policy to address any restrictions as3 sessed under paragraph (2); 

4 (4) recommend a strategy, based on existing 

5 standards, to enable agencies to provide services re6 lating to digital identity verification in a way that— 

7 (A) is secure, protects privacy, and pro8 tects individuals against unfair and misleading 

9 practices; 

10 (B) prioritizes equity and accessibility; 

11 (C) requires individual consent for the pro12 vision of digital identify verification services by 

13 a Federal, State, local, Tribal, or territorial 

14 agency; 

15 (D) is interoperable among participating 

16 Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial 

17 agencies, as appropriate and in accordance with 

18 applicable laws; and 

19 (E) prioritizes technical standards devel20 oped by voluntary consensus standards bodies 

21 in accordance with section 12(d) of the Na22 tional Technology Transfer and Advancement 

23 Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) and guidance 

24 under OMB Circular A–119, entitled ‘‘Federal 

25 Participation in the Development and Use of 


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1 Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Con2 formity Assessment Activities’’, or any suc3 cessor thereto; 

4 (5) recommend principles to promote policies 

5 for shared identity proofing across public sector 

6 agencies, which may include single sign-on or broad7 ly accepted attestations; 

8 (6) identify funding or other resources needed 

9 to support the agencies described in paragraph (4) 

10 that provide digital identity verification, including 

11 recommendations with respect to the need for and 

12 the design of a Federal grant program to implement 

13 the recommendations of the Task Force and facili14 tate the development and upgrade of State, local, 

15 Tribal, and territorial highly secure interoperable 

16 systems that enable digital identity verification; 

17 (7) recommend funding models to provide dig18 ital identity verification to private sector entities, 

19 which may include fee-based funding models; 

20 (8) determine if any additional steps are nec21 essary with respect to Federal, State, local, Tribal, 

22 and territorial agencies to improve digital identity 

23 verification and management processes for the pur24 pose of enhancing the security, reliability, privacy, 

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1 tity solutions that support and protect transactions 

2 between individuals, government entities, and busi3 nesses; and 

4 (9) undertake other activities necessary to as5 sess and address other matters relating to digital 

6 identity verification, including with respect to— 

7 (A) the potential exploitation of digital 

8 identity tools or associated products and serv9 ices by malign actors; 

10 (B) privacy implications; and 

11 (C) increasing access to foundational iden12 tity documents. 

13 (h) PROHIBITION.—The Task Force may not implic14 itly or explicitly recommend the creation of— 

15 (1) a single identity credential provided or man16 dated by the Federal Government for the purposes 

17 of verifying identity or associated attributes; 

18 (2) a unilateral central national identification 

19 registry relating to digital identity verification; or 

20 (3) a requirement that any individual be forced 

21 to use digital identity verification for a given public 

22 purpose. 

23 (i) REQUIRED CONSULTATION.—The Task Force 

24 shall closely consult with leaders of Federal, State, local, 


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1 Tribal, and territorial governments and nongovernmental 

2 leaders, which shall include the following: 

3 (1) The Secretary of Education. 

4 (2) The heads of other Federal agencies and of5 fices determined appropriate by the Director. 

6 (3) State, local, Tribal, and territorial govern7 ment officials focused on identity, such as informa8 tion technology officials and directors of State de9 partments of motor vehicles and vital records bu10 reaus. 

11 (4) Digital privacy experts. 

12 (5) Civil liberties experts. 

13 (6) Technology and cybersecurity experts. 

14 (7) Users of identity verification services. 

15 (8) Representatives with relevant expertise from 

16 academia and advocacy organizations. 

17 (9) Industry representatives with experience im18 plementing digital identity systems. 

19 (10) Identity theft and fraud prevention ex20 perts, including advocates for victims of identity 

21 theft and fraud. 

22 (j) REPORTS.— 

23 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 

25 shall submit to the appropriate notification entities 


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1 a report on the activities of the Task Force, includ2 ing— 

3 (A) recommendations on— 

4 (i) implementing the strategy pursu5 ant to subsection (g)(4); and 

6 (ii) methods to leverage digital driv7 er’s licenses, distributed ledger technology, 

8 and other technologies; and 

9 (B) summaries of the input and rec10 ommendations of the leaders consulted under 

11 subsection (i). 

12 (2) INTERIM REPORTS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director may sub14 mit to the appropriate notification entities in15 terim reports the Director determines necessary 

16 to support the work of the Task Force and edu17 cate the public. 

18 (B) MANDATORY REPORT.—Not later than 

19 the date that is 18 months after the date of en20 actment of this Act, the Director shall submit 

21 to the appropriate notification entities an in22 terim report addressing— 

23 (i) the matters described in para24 graphs (1), (2), (4), and (6) of subsection 

25 (g); and 


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1 (ii) any other matters the Director de2 termines necessary to support the work of 

3 the Task Force and educate the public. 

4 (3) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

5 before the date described in subsection (k), the Di6 rector shall submit to the appropriate notification 

7 entities a final report that includes recommendations 

8 for the President and Congress relating to any rel9 evant matter within the scope of the duties of the 

10 Task Force. 

11 (4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Task Force 

12 shall make the reports required under this sub13 section publicly available on a centralized website as 

14 an open Government data asset (as defined in sec15 tion 3502 of title 44, United States Code). 

16 (k) SUNSET.—The Task Force shall conclude busi17 ness on the date that is 3 years after the date of enact18 ment of this Act. 

19 SEC. 5. SECURITY ENHANCEMENTS TO FEDERAL SYSTEMS. 

20 (a) GUIDANCE FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Not later 

21 than 180 days after the date on which the Director sub22 mits the report required under section 4(j)(1), the Direc23 tor of the Office of Management and Budget shall issue 

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1 termined appropriate by the Director of the Office of Man2 agement and Budget. 

3 (b) REPORTS ON FEDERAL AGENCY PROGRESS IM4 PROVING DIGITAL IDENTITY VERIFICATION CAPABILI5 TIES.— 

6 (1) ANNUAL REPORT ON GUIDANCE IMPLEMEN7 TATION.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the 

8 issuance of guidance under subsection (a), and an9 nually thereafter, the head of each Federal agency 

10 shall submit to the Director of the Office of Manage11 ment and Budget a report on the efforts of the Fed12 eral agency to implement that guidance. 

13 (2) PUBLIC REPORT.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days 

15 after the date of the issuance of guidance under 

16 subsection (a), and annually thereafter, the Di17 rector shall develop and make publicly available 

18 a report that includes— 

19 (i) a list of digital identity verification 

20 services offered by Federal agencies; 

21 (ii) the volume of digital identity 

22 verifications performed by each Federal 

23 agency; 


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1 (iii) information relating to the effec2 tiveness of digital identity verification serv3 ices by Federal agencies; and 

4 (iv) recommendations to improve the 

5 effectiveness of digital identity verification 

6 services by Federal agencies. 

7 (B) CONSULTATION.—In developing the 

8 first report required under subparagraph (A), 

9 the Director shall consult the Task Force. 

10 (3) CONGRESSIONAL REPORT ON FEDERAL

11 AGENCY DIGITAL IDENTITY CAPABILITIES.— 

12 (A) REFORM.—Not later than 180 days 

13 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

14 Director of the Office of Management and 

15 Budget, in coordination with the Director of the 

16 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security 

17 Agency, shall submit to the Committee on 

18 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

19 of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight 

20 and Accountability of the House of Representa21 tives a report relating to the implementation 

22 and effectiveness of the digital identity capabili23 ties of Federal agencies. 

24 (B) CONSULTATION.—In developing the 

25 report required under subparagraph (A), the 


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1 Director of the Office of Management and 

2 Budget shall— 

3 (i) consult with the Task Force; and 

4 (ii) to the greatest extent practicable, 

5 include in the report recommendations of 

6 the Task Force. 

7 (C) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report 

8 required under subparagraph (A) shall in9 clude— 

10 (i) an analysis, including metrics and 

11 milestones, for the implementation by Fed12 eral agencies of— 

13 (I) the guidelines published by 

14 the National Institute of Standards 

15 and Technology in the document enti16 tled ‘‘Special Publication 800–63’’ 

17 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Digital 

18 Identity Guidelines’’), or any suc19 cessor document; and 

20 (II) if feasible, any additional re21 quirements relating to enhancing dig22 ital identity capabilities identified in 

23 the document of the Office of Man24 agement and Budget entitled ‘‘M–19– 


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1 17’’ and issued on May 21, 2019, or 

2 any successor document; 

3 (ii) a review of measures taken to ad4 vance the equity, accessibility, cybersecu5 rity, and privacy of digital identity 

6 verification services offered by Federal 

7 agencies; and 

8 (iii) any other relevant data, informa9 tion, or plans for Federal agencies to im10 prove the digital identity capabilities of 

11 Federal agencies. 

12 (c) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.—On the first March 1 oc13 curring after the date described in subsection (b)(3)(A), 

14 and annually thereafter, the Director of the Office of Man15 agement and Budget, in consultation with the Director of 

16 the National Institute of Standards and Technology, shall 

17 include in the report required under section 3553(c) of 

18 title 44, United States Code— 

19 (1) any additional and ongoing reporting on the 

20 matters described in subsection (b)(3)(C); and 

21 (2) associated information collection mecha22 nisms. 

23 SEC. 6. GAO REPORT. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 


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1 of the United States shall submit to Congress a report 

2 on the estimated potential savings, including estimated an3 nual potential savings, due to the increased adoption and 

4 widespread use of digital identification, of— 

5 (1) the Federal Government from averted 

6 fraud, including benefit fraud; and 

7 (2) the economy of the United States and con8 sumers from averted identity theft. 

9 (b) CONTENTS.—Among other variables the Comp10 troller General of the United States determines relevant, 

11 the report required under subsection (a) shall include mul12 tiple scenarios with varying uptake rates to demonstrate 

13 a range of possible outcomes. 

Æ 


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