I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4258 
To establish a governmentwide approach to improving digital identity, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 30, 2021 
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 Committee on Science, 
Space, and Technology, 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Digital 
Identity Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The lack of an easy, affordable, and reliable 
way for organizations, businesses, and government 
agencies to identify whether an individual is who 
they claim to be online creates an attack vector that 
is widely exploited by adversaries in cyberspace, and 
precludes many high-value transactions from being 
available online. 
(2) Incidents of identity theft and identity 
fraud continue to rise in the United States, where 
more than 164,000,000 consumer records containing 
personally identifiable information were breached in 
2019, increasing the total number of data breaches 
by 17 percent from the previous year. 
(3) In 2019, losses resulting from identity 
fraud amounted to $16,900,000,000. 
(4) In 2019, the Director of the Treasury De-
partment Financial Crimes Enforcement Network 
stated, ‘‘The abuse of personally identifiable infor-
mation, and other building blocks of identity, is a 
key enabler behind much of the fraud and 
cybercrime affecting our nation today.’’. 
(5) Trustworthy digital identity solutions can 
help under-banked and unbanked individuals better 
access to digital financial services through innovative 
delivery channels that promote financial inclusion. 
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(6) The inadequacy of current digital identity 
solutions degrades security and privacy for all Amer-
icans, and next generation solutions are needed that 
improve both security and privacy. 
(7) 
Government 
entities, 
as 
authoritative 
issuers of identity in the United States, are uniquely 
positioned to deliver critical components that ad-
dress deficiencies in our digital identity infrastruc-
ture and augment private sector digital identity and 
authentication solutions. 
(8) State governments are particularly well 
suited to play a role in enhancing digital identity so-
lutions used by both the public and private sectors, 
given the role of State governments as the issuers of 
driver’s licenses and other identity documents com-
monly used today. 
(9) The private sector drives much of the inno-
vation around digital identity in the United States 
and has an important role to play in delivering dig-
ital identity solutions. 
(10) The 2016 bipartisan Commission on En-
hancing National Cybersecurity called for the Fed-
eral Government to ‘‘create an interagency task 
force directed to find secure, user-friendly, privacy- 
centric ways in which agencies can serve as one au-
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thoritative source to validate identity attributes in 
the broader identity market. This action would en-
able government agencies and the private sector to 
drive significant risk out of new account openings 
and other high-risk, high-value online services, and 
it would help all citizens more easily and securely 
engage in transactions online’’. 
(11) The public and private sectors should col-
laborate to deliver solutions that promote confidence, 
privacy, choice, and innovation. 
(12) It should be the policy of the Government 
to use the authorities and capabilities of the Govern-
ment to enhance the security, reliability, privacy, 
and convenience of digital identity solutions that 
support and protect transactions between individ-
uals, government entities, and businesses, and that 
enable Americans to prove who they are online. 
SEC. 3. IMPROVING DIGITAL IDENTITY TASK FORCE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 
Executive Office of the President a task force to be known 
as the ‘‘Improving Digital Identity Task Force’’ (in this 
section referred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’). 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Task Force is to 
establish a governmentwide effort to develop secure meth-
ods for Federal, State, and local agencies to validate iden-
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tity attributes to protect the privacy and security of indi-
viduals and support reliable, interoperable digital identity 
verification in the public and private sectors. 
(c) DIRECTOR.—The Task Force shall have a Direc-
tor who shall be appointed by the President. 
(d) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall include the 
following individuals or the designees of such individuals: 
(1) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MEMBERSHIP.— 
(A) The Secretary of the Treasury. 
(B) The Secretary of Homeland Security. 
(C) The Secretary of State. 
(D) The Secretary of Education. 
(E) The Director of the Office of Manage-
ment and Budget. 
(F) The Commissioner of the Social Secu-
rity Administration. 
(G) The Director of the National Institute 
of Standards and Technology. 
(H) The Administrator of General Serv-
ices. 
(I) The heads of other Federal agencies 
and offices who the President may designate or 
invite. 
(2) STATE
GOVERNMENT
MEMBERSHIP.—The 
Task Force shall include 5 State government offi-
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cials who represent State agencies that issue identity 
credentials and who have knowledge of the systems 
used to provide such credentials. Such officials shall 
include the following: 
(A) A member appointed by the Speaker of 
the House of Representatives, in consultation 
with the Chairman of the Committee on Over-
sight and Reform and the Chairman of the 
Committee on Homeland Security of the House 
of Representatives. 
(B) A member appointed by the minority 
leader of the House of Representatives, in con-
sultation with the Ranking Member of the Com-
mittee on Oversight and Reform and the Rank-
ing Member of the Committee on Homeland Se-
curity of the House of Representatives. 
(C) A member appointed by the majority 
leader of the Senate, in consultation with the 
Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Secu-
rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 
(D) A member appointed by the minority 
leader of the Senate, in consultation with the 
Ranking Member of the Committee on Home-
land Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate. 
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Ranking Member of the Committee on Home-
land Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate. 
(E) A member appointed by the President. 
(e) MEETINGS.—The Task Force shall convene at the 
call of the Director. 
(f) DUTIES.—The Task Force shall— 
(1) identify Federal, State, and local agencies 
that issue identity information or hold information 
related to identifying an individual; 
(2) assess restrictions with respect to the abili-
ties of such agencies to verify identity information 
for other agencies and for nongovernmental organi-
zations; 
(3) assess any necessary changes in statute, 
regulation, or policy to address any restrictions de-
termined under paragraph (2); 
(4) recommend a standards-based architecture 
to enable agencies to provide services related to dig-
ital identity verification in a way that is secure, pro-
tects privacy, and is rooted in consumer consent; 
(5) identify funding or resources needed to sup-
port such agencies that provide digital identity 
verification, including a recommendation with re-
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spect to additional funding required for the grant 
program under section 5; 
(6) determine whether it would be practicable 
for such agencies to use a fee-based model to provide 
digital identity verification to private sector entities; 
(7) determine if any additional steps are nec-
essary with respect to Federal, State, and local 
agencies to improve digital identity verification and 
management processes for the purpose of enhancing 
the security, reliability, privacy, and convenience of 
digital identity solutions that support and protect 
transactions between individuals, government enti-
ties, and businesses; 
(8) assess risks related to potential criminal ex-
ploitation of digital identity verification services; 
(9) evaluate the security, effectiveness, and ben-
efits of a digital identity as compared to legacy 
physical identity verification; and 
(10) to the extent practicable, seek input from 
and collaborate with interested parties in the private 
sector to carry out the purpose under subsection (b). 
(g) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Task Force 
shall publish a report on the activities of the Task force, 
including recommendations on— 
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(1) priorities for research and development in 
the systems that enable digital identity verification, 
including how such priorities can be executed; and 
(2) the standards-based architecture developed 
pursuant to subsection (f)(4). 
SEC. 4. DIGITAL IDENTITY FRAMEWORK. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF A FRAMEWORK.—Not later 
than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Director’’) 
shall develop and periodically update a framework of 
standards, methodologies, procedures, and processes (in 
this section referred to as the ‘‘Framework’’) as a guide 
for Federal, State, and local governments to follow when 
providing services to support digital identity verification. 
(b) CONSIDERATION.—In developing the Framework, 
the Director shall consider— 
(1) methods to protect the privacy of individ-
uals; 
(2) security needs; and 
(3) the needs of potential end-users and individ-
uals that will use services related to digital identity 
verification. 
(c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out subsection (a) 
the Director shall consult with— 
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(1) the Improving Digital Identity Task Force 
established under section 3; 
(2) potential end-users and individuals that will 
use services related to digital identity verification; 
and 
(3) experts with relevant experience in the sys-
tems that enable digital identity verification, as de-
termined by the Director. 
(d) INTERIM PUBLICATION.—Not later than 240 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Direc-
tor shall publish an interim version of the Framework. 
(e) FINAL PUBLICATION.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 
publish a final version of the Framework. 
(f) UPDATES TO THE FRAMEWORK.—The Director 
shall, from time to time, update the Framework, with con-
sideration given to— 
(1) feedback from Federal, State, and local 
agencies that provide services related to digital iden-
tity verification; and 
(2) any technological changes to the systems 
that enable digital identity verification. 
(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Com-
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merce $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 
2026 to carry out this Act. 
SEC. 5. DIGITAL IDENTITY INNOVATION GRANTS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 18 months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of Homeland Security (in this section referred to as the 
‘‘Secretary’’) shall award grants to States to upgrade sys-
tems that provide drivers’ licenses or other types of iden-
tity credentials to support the development of highly se-
cure, interoperable State systems that enable digital iden-
tity verification. 
(b) USE OF FUNDS.—A State that receives a grant 
under this section shall use— 
(1) grant funds for services related to digital 
identity verification using the Framework developed 
pursuant to section 4; and 
(2) not less than 10 percent of grant funds to 
provide services that assist individuals with obtain-
ing identity credentials or identity verification serv-
ices needed to obtain a digital driver’s license or dig-
ital State identity card. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums 
as may be necessary to carry out this section. 
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SEC. 6. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION ON THE USE OF 
SOCIAL 
SECURITY 
NUMBERS 
BY 
NON-
GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to the Committees on Ways and Means and 
Financial Services of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Finance of the Senate a report that in-
cludes the following: 
(1) An analysis of legal and regulatory require-
ments with respect to the collection and retention of 
Social Security numbers by nongovernmental organi-
zations. 
(2) A recommendation on the necessity and ef-
fectiveness of any legal and regulatory requirement 
analyzed pursuant to paragraph (1) and the use of 
a form of identification other than a Social Security 
number. 
SEC. 7. SECURITY ENHANCEMENTS TO FEDERAL SYSTEMS. 
(a) DIRECTIVES
FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Not 
later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall issue 
binding operational directives to Federal agencies for pur-
pose of implementing— 
(1) the guidelines published by the National In-
stitute of Standards and Technology in ‘‘Special 
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Publication 800–63’’ (commonly referred to as the 
‘‘Digital Identity Guidelines’’); and 
(2) the memorandum of the Office of Manage-
ment and Budget issued on May 21, 2019, which in-
cludes the subject ‘‘Enabling Mission Delivery 
through Improved Identity, Credential, and Access 
Management’’. 
(b) REPORTS.— 
(1) FEDERAL
AGENCY
REPORTS.—Not later 
than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the head of each Federal agency shall submit 
to the Secretary of Homeland Security a report on 
the efforts of each such Federal agency to imple-
ment the directives issued pursuant to subsection 
(a). 
(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— Not later than 2 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a re-
port summarizing the efforts from the reports sub-
mitted pursuant to paragraph (1) to the following: 
(A) The Committee on Homeland Security 
of the House of Representatives. 
(B) The Committee on Oversight and Re-
form of the House of Representatives. 
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(C) The Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
(1) DIGITAL
IDENTITY
VERIFICATION.—The 
term ‘‘digital identity verification’’ means a process 
to verify the identity of an individual accessing a 
service online or through another electronic means. 
(2) IDENTITY CREDENTIAL.—The term ‘‘iden-
tity credential’’ means a document or other evidence 
of the identity of an individual issued by a govern-
ment agency that conveys the identity of the indi-
vidual, including a driver’s license or passport. 
Æ 
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