Biometric passports now valid for US Login.gov remote identity proofing

America’s GSA has added biometric passports to its ID documents supported for remote identity verification on the government’s single sign-on (SSO) platform, Login.gov.

Support for biometric passports was added through a collaboration between GSA’s Technology Transformation Services (TTS) and the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, according to a government announcement.

Login.gov users will now have the option to capture the biographical data page of their U.S. passport – which also includes their face biometrics – during the remote identity proofing flow. The platform uses an API to check the travel identity credential against State Department records.

Previously, Login.gov users needed to capture a photo of a state-issued driver’s license or non-driver’s ID to perform remote identity proofing on the platform. Login.gov is now beyond 100 million user accounts, according to the announcement.

With 170 million passports in circulation, that number could improve as the ranks of passport-holders presumably include some people without state IDs.

Deputy Secretary of State for Management and GSA Acting Administrator Michael Rigas called the move “a major milestone for GSA and the federal government’s digital service ecosystem.” He suggests adding passports to Login.gov’s supported credentials will help make government operations more efficient and less fraud-prone.

“This collaboration represents a powerful step forward in interagency cooperation,” Ryan Dooley, acting deputy assistant secretary for passport services at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. “Using passport records to support secure identity verification is a commonsense way to improve access for the public.”

The announcement also notes that the move takes place in the context of an overall program expansion that has already led to the addition of selfie biometrics and IAL2 certification by Kantara. In the future, support for mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs) will be added through the same expansion plan as soon as next March.

Article Topics

biometric passport  |  biometrics  |  face biometrics  |  IAL2  |  identity verification  |  Login.gov  |  remote identity proofing  |  single sign-on  |  U.S. Government