Foster Introduces Bipartisan Digital Identity Legislation

Today, Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL), Congressman John Katko (R-NY), Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI), and Congressman Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) introduced the bipartisan Improving Digital Identity Act of 2020.


The legislation would work to modernize the country’s lagging digital identity infrastructure with a three-pronged approach:


  • It would establish a task force to bring together key federal agencies with state and local government representatives to develop secure methods for government agencies to validate identity attributes to protect the privacy and security of individuals and support reliable, interoperable digital identity verification tools in the public and private sectors.

  • It would direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to create a new framework of standards to guide government agencies when providing digital identity verification services – placing an emphasis on privacy and security.

  • Finally, the bill would establish a grant program within the Department of Homeland Security to allow states to upgrade the systems they use to issue drivers’ licenses and other types of identity credentials, and to support the development of secure, interoperable state systems that enable digital identity verification in accordance with the framework developed by NIST.

  • “This bill is a much needed first step to ensuring the United States catches up with the developed world on digital identity,” said Congressman Foster. “So much of peoples’ daily lives are spent conducting business online – whether it’s banking, investing, shopping, or even communicating with doctors. It’s become vitally important to ramp up safeguards to protect against identity theft and fraud, so that both consumers and businesses can have confidence in online transactions and the peace-of-mind of protecting sensitive information.”


    “COVID-19 has caused a lot of change in the way Americans live, work, and provide for our families, and we have become even more reliant on digi ..

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