Task force outlines federal ID management approach
Connecting state and local government leaders
New report outlines initial set of recommendations for building a more organized framework for identity management.
A new report by a federal task force on identity management
catalogs the challenges government agencies face in collecting and
using personally identifiable information and outlines an initial
set of recommendations for building a more organized framework for
identity management.
Duane Blackburn, a policy analyst with the White House Office of
Science and Technology Policy and a member of the Identity
Management Task Force, highlighted the group’s findings at an
identity management conference held by the International Technology
Association of America.
Among the task force’s conclusions:
- There are more than 3,000 systems within the U.S. government
that utilize personally identifiable information (PII), and the
vast majority of these were designed and managed independently from
one another. - Duplicative identity data is frequently stored in multiple
locations within the same agency and across agencies, resulting in
problems with accuracy and complications when an individual seeks
redress; - A lack of commonly used standards makes cross-function
collaboration difficult, making it harder to respond to
time-sensitive missions; - Privacy protection efforts vary in complexity across agencies;
and - The absence of a single governmentwide forum responsible for
coordinating and homogenizing identity management efforts continues
to hamper progress.
Specifically, the task force recommended developing an identity
architecture with three components: digital identity repositories,
where personal identifiable information is stored; privilege
applications, which grant permission to complete transactions; and
a global telecommunications grid that can support screening and
authentication functions.
While the work of the task force is still in the early stages,
Blackburn noted that the coalition would continue to push for a
standards-based architecture that protects privacy, improves
accuracy and provides greater authentication and access
controls.
The task force is made up of representatives from a number of
agencies including the Defense, State, Justice, and Homeland
Security departments, the Office of Management and Budget, the
National Institute of Standards and Technology, the federal CIO
Council, and the National Science and Technology Council and its
subcommittee on Biometrics and Identity Management, which led the
task force.
The complete report is available here (.pdf).
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