New Login.gov Director Will Oversee Selfie Biometrics Pilot

Hanna Kim has been appointed as the new director of Technology Transformation Services’ Login.gov, effective May 11, according to the General Services Administration. She succeeds Dan Lopez-Braus in the appointment.

In her new role, she will oversee the implementation of a new optimized pricing structure and a pilot for selfie-based identity verification at Login.gov.

Kim has been the deputy director of Login.gov since January and has a background at Amazon and various federal departments. During her five-year term with Amazon, she worked on “cutting-edge AI-based technology to scale policy enforcement,” according to GSA.

The announcement after the GSA announced that Login.gov would pilot biometric technology to enhance identity verification and security measures last October. The plan, as detailed at the time, was to integrate facial recognition technology and a live video chat feature into the service. The initiative was a response to a critical report from the agency’s Inspector General, which highlighted misleading claims about Login.gov’s compliance with the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) identity assurance standards. The introduction of biometric technology was identified as a necessary step to meet these standards.

Launched in 2017, Login.gov has been used by over 70 million people and supports services across numerous federal and state agencies. The planned addition of facial recognition and live video chat is aimed at enhancing identity verification, aligning with NIST standards, and strengthening the platform’s defense against identity fraud and cyber threats.

The decision to adopt facial recognition technology followed careful consideration of its equity and potential biases, particularly in relation to skin tone and demographics. The GSA had conducted studies to ensure the technology’s fair deployment. Facial recognition at Login.gov was to employ a one-to-one matching technique, where users’ selfies would be compared with their submitted IDs, avoiding the more controversial one-to-many matching.

Source: FedScoop

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April 25, 2024 – by Cass Kennedy