I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8215 

To establish a governmentwide approach to improving digital identity, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 

Mr. FOSTER (for himself, Mr. KATKO, Mr. LANGEVIN, and Mr. LOUDERMILK) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Science, 

Space, and Technology, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a governmentwide 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 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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

2 way for organizations, businesses, and government 

3 agencies to identify whether an individual is who 

4 they claim to be online creates an attack vector that 

5 is widely exploited by adversaries in cyberspace, and 

6 precludes many high-value transactions from being 

7 available online. 

8 (2) Incidents of identity theft and identity 

9 fraud continue to rise in the United States, where 

10 more than 164,000,000 consumer records containing 

11 personally identifiable information were breached in 

12 2019, increasing the total number of data breaches 

13 by 17 percent from the previous year. 

14 (3) In 2019, losses resulting from identity 

15 fraud amounted to $16,900,000,000. 

16 (4) In 2019, the Director of the Treasury De17 partment Financial Crimes Enforcement Network 

18 stated, ‘‘The abuse of personally identifiable infor19 mation, and other building blocks of identity, is a 

20 key enabler behind much of the fraud and cyber21 crime affecting our nation today.’’ 

22 (5) Trustworthy digital identity solutions can 

23 help under-banked and unbanked individuals better 

24 access to digital financial services through innovative 

25 delivery channels that promote financial inclusion. 


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1 (6) The inadequacy of current digital identity 

2 solutions degrades security and privacy for all Amer3 icans, and next generation solutions are needed that 

4 improve both security and privacy. 

5 (7) Government entities, as authoritative 

6 issuers of identity in the United States, are uniquely 

7 positioned to deliver critical components that ad8 dress deficiencies in our digital identity infrastruc9 ture and augment private sector digital identity and 

10 authentication solutions. 

11 (8) State governments are particularly well 

12 suited to play a role in enhancing digital identity so13 lutions used by both the public and private sectors, 

14 given the role of State governments as the issuers of 

15 driver’s licenses and other identity documents com16 monly used today. 

17 (9) The private sector drives much of the inno18 vation around digital identity in the United States 

19 and has an important role to play in delivering dig20 ital identity solutions. 

21 (10) The 2016 bipartisan Commission on En22 hancing National Cybersecurity called for the Fed23 eral government to ‘‘create an interagency task force 

24 directed to find secure, user-friendly, privacy-centric 

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1 tative source to validate identity attributes in the 

2 broader identity market. This action would enable 

3 government agencies and the private sector to drive 

4 significant risk out of new account openings and 

5 other high-risk, high-value online services, and it 

6 would help all citizens more easily and securely en7 gage in transactions online.’’ 

8 (11) The public and private sectors should col9 laborate to deliver solutions that promote confidence, 

10 privacy, choice, and innovation. 

11 (12) It should be the policy of the Government 

12 to use the authorities and capabilities of the Govern13 ment to enhance the security, reliability, privacy, 

14 and convenience of digital identity solutions that 

15 support and protect transactions between individ16 uals, government entities, and businesses, and that 

17 enable Americans to prove who they are online. 

18 SEC. 3. IMPROVING DIGITAL IDENTITY TASK FORCE. 

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

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

21 as the ‘‘Improving Digital Identity Task Force’’ (in this 

22 section referred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’). 

23 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Task Force is to 

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1 tity attributes to protect the privacy and security of indi2 viduals and support reliable, interoperable digital identity 

3 verification in the public and private sectors. 

4 (c) DIRECTOR.—The Task Force shall have a Direc5 tor who shall be appointed by the President. 

6 (d) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall include the 

7 following individuals or the designees of such individuals: 

8 (1) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MEMBERSHIP.— 

9 (A) The Secretary of the Treasury. 

10 (B) The Secretary of Homeland Security. 

11 (C) The Secretary of State. 

12 (D) The Secretary of Education. 

13 (E) The Director of the Office of Manage14 ment and Budget. 

15 (F) The Commissioner of the Social Secu16 rity Administration. 

17 (G) The Director of the National Institute 

18 of Standards and Technology. 

19 (H) The Administrator of General Serv20 ices. 

21 (I) The heads of other Federal agencies 

22 and offices who the President may designate or 

23 invite. 

24 (2) STATE GOVERNMENT MEMBERSHIP.—The 

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1 cials who represent State agencies that issue identity 

2 credentials and who have knowledge of the systems 

3 used to provide such credentials. Such officials shall 

4 include the following: 

5 (A) A member appointed by the Speaker of 

6 the House of Representatives, in consultation 

7 with the Chairman of the Committee on Over8 sight and Reform and the Chairman of the 

9 Committee on Homeland Security of the House 

10 of Representatives. 

11 (B) A member appointed by the minority 

12 leader of the House of Representatives, in con13 sultation with the Ranking Member of the Com14 mittee on Oversight and Reform and the Rank15 ing Member of the Committee on Homeland Se16 curity of the House of Representatives. 

17 (C) A member appointed by the majority 

18 leader of the Senate, in consultation with the 

19 Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Secu20 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

21 (D) A member appointed by the minority 

22 leader of the Senate, in consultation with the 

23 Ranking Member of the Committee on Home24 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

25 Senate. 


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1 (E) A member appointed by the President. 

2 (3) LOCAL GOVERNMENT MEMBERSHIP.—The 

3 Task Force shall include 5 local government officials 

4 who represent local agencies that issue identity cre5 dentials and who have knowledge of the systems 

6 used to provide such credentials. Such officials shall 

7 include the following: 

8 (A) A member appointed by the Speaker of 

9 the House of Representatives, in consultation 

10 with the Chairman of the Committee on Over11 sight and Reform and Chairman of the Com12 mittee on Homeland Security of the House of 

13 Representatives. 

14 (B) A member appointed by the minority 

15 leader of the House of Representatives, in con16 sultation with the Chairman of the Committee 

17 on Oversight and Reform and the Chairman of 

18 the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

19 House of Representatives. 

20 (C) A member appointed by the majority 

21 leader of the Senate, in consultation with the 

22 Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Secu23 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

24 (D) A member appointed by the minority 

25 leader of the Senate, in consultation with the 


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1 Ranking Member of the Committee on Home2 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

3 Senate. 

4 (E) A member appointed by the President. 

5 (e) MEETINGS.—The Task Force shall convene at the 

6 call of the Director. 

7 (f) DUTIES.—The Task Force shall— 

8 (1) identify Federal, State, and local agencies 

9 that issue identity information or hold information 

10 related to identifying an individual; 

11 (2) assess restrictions with respect to the abili12 ties of such agencies to verify identity information 

13 for other agencies and for nongovernmental organi14 zations; 

15 (3) assess any necessary changes in statute, 

16 regulation, or policy to address any restrictions de17 termined under paragraph (2); 

18 (4) recommend a standards-based architecture 

19 to enable agencies to provide services related to dig20 ital identity verification in a way that is secure, pro21 tects privacy, and is rooted in consumer consent; 

22 (5) identify funding or resources needed to sup23 port such agencies that provide digital identity 

24 verification, including a recommendation with reVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8215.IH H8215

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1 spect to additional funding required for the grant 

2 program under section 5; 

3 (6) determine whether it would be practicable 

4 for such agencies to use a fee-based model to provide 

5 digital identity verification to private sector entities; 

6 (7) determine if any additional steps are nec7 essary with respect to Federal, State, and local 

8 agencies to improve digital identity verification and 

9 management processes for the purpose of enhancing 

10 the security, reliability, privacy, and convenience of 

11 digital identity solutions that support and protect 

12 transactions between individuals, government enti13 ties, and businesses; 

14 (8) assess risks related to potential criminal ex15 ploitation of digital identity verification services; and 

16 (9) to the extent practicable, seek input from 

17 and collaborate with interested parties in the private 

18 sector to carry out the purpose under subsection (b). 

19 (g) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Task Force 

21 shall publish a report on the activities of the Task force, 

22 including recommendations on— 

23 (1) priorities for research and development in 

24 the systems that enable digital identity verification, 

25 including how such priorities can be executed; and 


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1 (2) the standards-based architecture developed 

2 pursuant to subsection (f)(4). 

3 SEC. 4. DIGITAL IDENTITY STANDARDS. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF A STANDARDS FRAME5 WORK.—The Director of the National Institute of Stand6 ards and Technology (in this section referred to as the 

7 ‘‘Director’’) shall develop a framework of standards, meth8 odologies, procedures, and processes (in this section re9 ferred to as the ‘‘Framework’’) as a guide for Federal, 

10 State, and local governments to follow when providing 

11 services related to digital identity verification. 

12 (b) CONSIDERATION.—In developing the Framework, 

13 the Director shall consider— 

14 (1) methods to protect the privacy of individ15 uals; 

16 (2) security needs; and 

17 (3) the needs of potential end-users and individ18 uals that will use services related to digital identity 

19 verification. 

20 (c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out subsection (a), 

21 the Director shall consult with— 

22 (1) the Improving Digital Identity Task Force 

23 established under section 3; 


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1 (2) potential end-users and individuals that will 

2 use services related to digital identity verification; 

3 and 

4 (3) experts with relevant experience in the sys5 tems that enable digital identity verification, as de6 termined by the Director. 

7 (d) INTERIM PUBLICATION.—Not later than 240 

8 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Direc9 tor shall publish an interim version of the Framework. 

10 (e) FINAL PUBLICATION.—Not later than 1 year 

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

12 shall publish a final version of the Framework. 

13 (f) UPDATES TO THE FRAMEWORK.—The Director 

14 shall, from time to time, update the Framework, with con15 sideration given to— 

16 (1) feedback from Federal, State, and local 

17 agencies that provide services related to digital iden18 tity verification; and 

19 (2) any technological changes to the systems 

20 that enable digital identity verification. 

21 SEC. 5. DIGITAL IDENTITY INNOVATION GRANTS. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 18 months 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

24 of Homeland Security (in this section referred to as the 

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1 tems that provide drivers’ licenses or other types of iden2 tity credentials to support the development of highly se3 cure, interoperable State systems that enable digital iden4 tity verification. 

5 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—A State that receives a grant 

6 under this section shall use— 

7 (1) grant funds for services related to digital 

8 identity verification using the Framework developed 

9 pursuant to section 4; and 

10 (2) not less than 10 percent of grant funds to 

11 provide services that assist individuals with obtain12 ing identity credentials or identity verification serv13 ices needed to obtain a driver’s license or State iden14 tity card. 

15 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

16 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums 

17 as may be necessary to carry out this section. 

18 SEC. 6. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION ON THE USE OF 

19 SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS BY NON20 GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS. 

21 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

22 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

23 shall submit to the Committees on Ways and Means and 

24 Financial Services of the House of Representatives and 


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1 the Committee on Finance of the Senate a report that in2 cludes the following: 

3 (1) An analysis of legal and regulatory require4 ments with respect to the collection and retention of 

5 Social Security numbers by nongovernmental organi6 zations. 

7 (2) A recommendation on the necessity and ef8 fectiveness of any legal and regulatory requirement 

9 analyzed pursuant to paragraph (1) and the use of 

10 a form of identification other than a Social Security 

11 number. 

12 SEC. 7. SECURITY ENHANCEMENTS TO FEDERAL SYSTEMS. 

13 (a) DIRECTIVES FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Not 

14 later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of 

15 this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall issue 

16 binding operational directives to Federal agencies for pur17 pose of implementing— 

18 (1) the guidelines published by the National In19 stitute of Standards and Technology in ‘‘Special 

20 Publication 800–63’’ (commonly referred to as the 

21 ‘‘Digital Identity Guidelines’’); and 

22 (2) the memorandum of the Office of Manage23 ment and Budget issued on May 21, 2019, which in24 cludes the subject ‘‘Enabling Mission Delivery 


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1 through Improved Identity, Credential, and Access 

2 Management’’. 

3 (b) REPORTS.— 

4 (1) FEDERAL AGENCY REPORTS.—Not later 

5 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 

6 Act, the head of each Federal agency shall submit 

7 to the Secretary of Homeland Security a report on 

8 the efforts of each such Federal agency to imple9 ment the directives issued pursuant to subsection 

10 (a). 

11 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— Not later than 2 

12 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

13 Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a re14 port summarizing the efforts from the reports sub15 mitted pursuant to paragraph (1) to the following: 

16 (A) The Committee on Homeland Security 

17 of the House of Representatives. 

18 (B) The Committee on Oversight and Re19 form of the House of Representatives. 

20 (C) The Committee on Homeland Security 

21 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

22 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

23 For purposes of this Act: 

24 (1) DIGITAL IDENTITY VERIFICATION.—The 

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


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1 to verify the identity of an individual accessing a 

2 service online or through another electronic means. 

3 (2) IDENTITY CREDENTIAL.—The term ‘‘iden4 tity credential’’ means a document or other evidence 

5 of the identity of an individual issued by a govern6 ment agency that conveys the identity of the indi7 vidual, including a driver’s license or passport. 

Æ 


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