United States of America: Introduced Improving Digital Identity Act (S 884)

On 21 March 2023, the Improving Digital Identity Act was introduced to the United States Senate. The Act aims to enable digital identity confirmation for businesses and public institutions. Specifically, the Act would call for the establishment of an "Improving Digital Identity Task Force" that would support public institutions on all levels by better combining digital and physical identity documents, including digital versions of driver's licenses, passports or birth certificates. Specifically, the task force would evaluate the current tools used for identity confirmation at different agencies and what is required to improve them. Based on the evaluation, the task force is required to issue specific recommendations. The task force should be considerate of the principles of privacy and user protection when recommending interoperability standards. Finally, the task force would also be required to issue guidelines providing guidance to private businesses.