Why digital identity should be a priority for the next president

Stakeholders inside and outside of government hope that the next administration will make digital identity a policy priority, and they have a new series of transition papers with recommendations for that administration, which MITRE released Thursday. 

Based on a series of workshops at the government’s annual identity event, held this year in June, the papers offer a glimpse into the wishlist of the federal employees, vendors, academics and other stakeholders who work on digital identity. 

“There's a limited amount of things that an administration can work on. It's up to them to pick their priorities, and this hasn't been one of their top priorities” in the Biden administration or the Trump administration, said Duane Blackburn, deputy director of MITRE’s Center for Data Driven Policy who previously worked on identity issues for years in government. “It’s been on the radar but hasn’t been one of their top priorities.”

President Biden promised an executive order focused on identity theft and its intersection with public benefits programs in 2022, but that still hasn’t been issued.

Organizers for the June federal identity event wanted to get the issue on the top of the agenda for whoever's in the White House next. 

One of the first things to focus on, said Blackburn, who co-chairs the FedID planning committee, is “this need for a coordinated approach to digital identity. Not just in government, but in the government and private sector.”

“We still have a lot of fragmented and uncoordinated, but good, identity activities happening,” he said. “But there’s an upper bounds to the benefits of what we’re able to provide without that holistic, strategic approach…. You really need the White House and its convening power to pull everybody together.”

As for the stakes, there is the personal level, where “if you get your identity stolen, it’s a pain to get it fixed,” said Blackburn. 

Identity issues also present an economic impact. Financial institutions reported $212 billion worth of identity-related suspicious activity reports to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in 2021, and problems with identity-fueled fraud in government benefits programs have also made headlines since the pandemic.

The MITRE papers call for a modernized national privacy framework, as it’s difficult to work in such an outdated system, said Blackburn. 

“Such a framework is essential to guide the evaluation and measurement of identity technologies, instill public trust, and ensure consistency across federal and state levels of government,” a privacy-focused paper reads. “Current privacy laws and regulations are fragmented and do not reflect modern technological advancements or the current marketplace, which has monetized consumer data and expanded the use of identity tools for various purposes, including law enforcement and access to public benefits.”

Other recommendations include public education on identity theft and a strategy to support victims of identity theft. Congress should also pass legislation on the problem, the papers note, and in the federal government, agencies need senior leadership for the issue as well as a coordinated approach. 

Agencies with important parts of the identity puzzle, such as Social Security numbers, could validate those attributes for third parties. One recommendation is for the Social Security Administration itself to play a larger role in the identity game, providing digital IDs for citizens.

The new identity papers are different from MITRE’s other transition papers in that they were informed by roundtables, not MITRE’s own work, said Blackburn.