Single sign-on Login.gov accounts grow in US; still a long way to go

The U.S. government says 70 million Login.gov single sign-in accounts have been created, a 50 percent increase compared to a year ago when 47 million accounts existed.

The General Services Administration, which is charged with operating Login.gov, says the service creates a single sign-on for 43 federal and state services. There are 258.3 million adults in the United States, according to the government.

It is “on a path to providing an IAL2-compliant verification service,” according to the agency. There are three identity assurance levels, part of the National Institute of Standards’ 800-63-3 guidelines. Each represents a certain level of security that can required by a government agency of someone needing to prove their identity. IAL2 stipulates either in-person or biometric comparison to a piece of identity evidence.

In an announcement that has the boosterism feel of decades of government promotions, the GSA says that the agencies adopting Login.gov are “looking to raise the bar on program security,” fight program fraud and “improve equitable access” to the government.

The government twice says that its evidence-based ID verification service 130 percent in the past 12 months, although no further details are volunteered.

In-person verification has been expanded to 18,000 post offices, according to the GSA.

The GSA scheduled a meeting earlier this month with vendors interested on creating new remote ID-proofing software for Login.gov, according to notice ID 47QPCAR0001.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  GSA  |  identity access management (IAM)  |  identity verification  |  Login.gov  |  single sign-on  |  U.S. Government