How does it work
Login.gov encrypts your personal information in transit and at rest and asks you before sharing your data with a partner agency. Many government agencies can reuse identity assurance credentials across their websites, and Login.gov continues to develop its service to meet the various needs of these agency partners.
During identity proofing, the ID is also checked for authenticity. Then, the personal information is validated with the issuing source (for example: state DMVs, Department of State) or authoritative sources (for example: credit, telephone records). A self-photograph is used as further proof of your identity by comparing it to the portrait on your government-issued ID, which is also done by our service providers. Login.gov currently supports state IDs and U.S. Passports. Over time, Login.gov will support additional IDs.
Your address is also validated during this process. This can be done remotely using a telephone number associated with the address or through a letter with an enrollment code sent to the account holder’s address. Once validated, Login.gov identity credentials are encrypted with the account holder’s password. This means that for most of your account information, only you can unlock and access it with your password.
Protecting your privacy through encryption does come at a cost. Login.gov operators, such as our Contact Center team, cannot make changes on your behalf: they cannot unlock your account, change your password, or update your email address or phone number. We encourage you to safeguard your authentication method for this reason. While this means Login.gov cannot provide that level of customer support, doing this helps protect your identity: if we chose to make these options available to our customer support team, our system would be more vulnerable to hacking and more at risk from bad actors.
There is a limited exception for fraud prevention. Authorized Login.gov fraud operations personnel can access information about identity verification attempts, including the personal information you provided, in order to detect and investigate identity fraud. This information is hidden by default and viewed only when needed for an investigation, and all access is logged and monitored. For the first year, authorized personnel can also access the identity documents you submitted; after one year, Login.gov can no longer access them.
The information you give Login.gov will be shared with the applicable partner agency to provide access to information about you held by that agency as described in the associated systems of records notices.
Fraud prevention protects you. Individuals and organized criminal groups continuously attempt to steal people’s identities and defraud government programs - filing false claims, redirecting benefits, or opening accounts in someone else’s name. Our fraud prevention practices are designed to detect and stop these attacks while respecting your privacy.
Large agencies maintain their own anti-fraud teams that investigate fraud against their programs. These teams need information about how an identity was verified in order to detect fraud patterns and investigate suspected cases. Login.gov requires strong written agreements and security practices before sharing this information with a partner agency.
If you began or attempted to access a partner agency’s service and that agency receives verification attempt information from Login.gov to help prevent fraud, information about your identity - including attempts you do not complete - is shared with that agency at the time of your attempt. That agency may also request the identity documents you submitted to investigate suspected fraud.
Please note that the Login.gov system will record certain session-level information about your use of the service, including but not limited to, web browser type and version, and the length of your session. This information allows Login.gov to better understand how the site is being used and how it can be made more helpful. Login.gov also collects information about your device and how you interact with the service to detect and prevent fraud.
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