Practical Alternatives for Population-Scale Remote Identity Proofing

The purpose of this multiphase SBIR project is to identify, define and demonstrate a range of alternatives to knowledge-based verification for remote identity proofing. Knowledge-based verification is becoming less and less secure due to the increased availability to fraudsters of personally identifiable information. The project will expand the multidimensional space of remote identity proofing solutions by considering innovations including the use of EMV chip cards as identity tokens, the use of federated identity protocols for directly conveying validated attributes from identity providers to relying parties, and the use of persistent web storage available in modern browsers to store cryptographic credentials carrying validated attributes. Five or more solutions will be selected from the expanded multidimensional space, analyzed, and ranked according to the identity assurance, privacy and user experience they provide. The most promising ones will be demonstrated by building prototypes. It is anticipated that the project will ultimately result in commercial products implementing remote identity proofing solutions usable by Federal Agencies to verify the identity and eligibility of citizens seeking government services, as well as by state, local and tribal governments for similar purposes. The same commercial products will also be usable in the private sector for applications such as remote loan issuance or remote application for credit cards. Eliminating the use knowledge-based verification will make identity theft much more difficult and will increase privacy by reducing the incentives to collect personally identifiable information by legal or illegal means.