GSA Seeks Participants for Remote Identity Proofing Study

The General Services Administration is seeking up to 4,000 individuals to join a study on five remote identity-proofing systems as the agency aims to achieve identity assurance level 2 certification from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Eligible participants are those who have a camera phone, a valid government ID and a Social Security number. Selected individuals will have to provide demographic and personal information and selfies for testing the Incode, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Jumio, Socure and Transunion systems, Nextgov/FCW reported.

The study will advance the GSA’s plan to integrate a facial recognition solution into its Login.gov identity authentication platform. Currently, the platform validates digital identities using data-matching techniques. The GSA has yet to deploy a facial recognition solution because of racial bias and discrimination concerns.

The technology is among the biometric methods the agency can use to secure IAL2 certification. In March, the GSA Office of the Inspector General released a report revealing that the agency billed customer agencies over $10 million for IAL2-compliant services, which the platform does not offer.