Updates

EPIC and ACLU Encourage NIST to Advance Privacy and Equity in Digital Identity Guidelines

October 9, 2024

This week EPIC and the ACLU submitted joint comments urging the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to center equity, accessibility, and privacy in the Second Draft of its Digital Identity Guidelines. In addition to echoing our previous comments on the First Draft, EPIC and ACLU recommended that NIST’s Digital Identity Guidelines (1) refocus fraud management guidance around large-scale, organized fraud schemes, (2) depreciate services that rely on third-party providers or foster second-order risks within the private sector, (3) strengthen the Guidelines to promote greater equity, (4) further emphasize anonymous and pseudonymous authorization mechanisms, and (5) rethink the user groups model. NIST can improve equity within the guidelines by requiring an in-person identity verification option, and mandate consultations with impacted communities and civil society around digital identity services, among other initiatives.

EPIC continues to advocate for privacy protective standards for digital identity, especially where people interact with government services. In the public benefits context, EPIC has worked to raise awareness about the lack of oversight in government procurement practices and how contracted private companies employ algorithms and automated decision making systems to help run our welfare programs.

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