The Department of Homeland Security took steps Monday to ramp up development of digital wallet technology, announcing six startups the department is partnering with to help protect the privacy of travelers who use digital credentials.
Credence ID, Hushmesh, Netis doo, Procivis, SpruceID and Ubiqu have each been awarded separate contracts with the DHS Science and Technology Directorate to support the department’s efforts to secure the virtual identities of Americans who travel using online ID documents.
“DHS is the authoritative source for the most valuable credentials issued by the U.S. federal government to verify cross-border travel, work eligibility, residency status and citizenship,” Anil John, technical director of S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program, said in a statement. “The capabilities developed in this solicitation will enable these credentials to be securely stored and properly verified while protecting individual privacy using openly developed standards that are globally accepted, highly secure and accessible to everyone.”
The contract was issued in partnership with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Privacy Office as part of the department’s existing solicitation for privacy-preserving digital authentication wallets and verification tools. Requirements outlined in the solicitation were focused on blending digital security with ease of access and use.
Each selected company specializes in privacy-preserving technologies to securely store individuals’ digital identity credentials and create verification tools to ensure appropriate access and use. Each company’s individual technology also supports privacy standards established by the World Wide Web Consortium.
“U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is the nation’s prestigious agency that issues highly valuable credentials related to citizenship and immigration,” said Jared Goodwin, acting director of Program Management and Data at USCIS. “Supporting standards-based digital credentials and a secure digital wallet to store them helps us meet our customers’ expectations for ease of use, convenience, privacy and security in an increasingly digital world.”
The Transportation Security Administration, part of the DHS division, recently began accepting official digital identification for travelers at 27 of the nation’s airports, but the House Homeland Security Committee introduced legislation in June that would require oversight of the TSA’s use of a digital identification system and an assessment of the risks and benefits of adopting such an initiative.
