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Your Passport Just Got a Power-Up for Government Services!
Exciting news from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)! On August 20, 2025, Login.gov launched a groundbreaking new way to verify your identity: using your U.S. passport. This innovative initiative is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between federal agencies, leveraging authoritative government records for secure online identity verification.
Login.gov, known as the public’s “one account for government,” is a vital shared technology service within GSA’s Technology Transformation Services (TTS). It provides crucial authentication and identity verification capabilities to a wide array of government agencies, currently supporting secure access to services at more than 50 federal and state agencies and serving over 100 million user accounts.
This significant enhancement is the result of a powerful partnership between GSA’s TTS and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. Now, when you need to securely verify your identity online through Login.gov, you can simply capture a picture of your U.S. passport biographical data page during the remote identity proofing process. Login.gov then swiftly and securely checks this against U.S. passport records via a privacy-preserving application programming interface (API) operated by the U.S. Department of State.
This advancement represents a major milestone for the federal government’s digital service ecosystem. It’s a powerful step forward in interagency cooperation, designed to create efficiencies and significantly combat fraud. By integrating authoritative government records like U.S. passports with top-tier private sector vendor components, the Login.gov platform offers agency partners a robust level of fraud protection. This also builds on Login.gov’s existing capability to provide an Identity Assurance Level 2 (IAL2) compliant identity verification service.
The integration of passports as a valid form of evidence in the Login.gov identity verification process is expected to expand access for millions of Americans, especially those who might lack other forms of identity documentation. With approximately 170 million valid U.S. passports currently in circulation, roughly half of all Americans possess this essential document that proves identity and U.S. citizenship. This new option also provides an additional choice to reduce friction for users, making online interactions with government services smoother and more accessible.
Looking ahead, this remote identity verification option has begun rolling out with passport books and will soon expand to include passport cards and even in-person identity verification at participating U.S. post office locations throughout the remainder of the year. This is just one of many planned expansions for Login.gov’s identity verification capabilities, which also include future incorporation of mobile driver’s licenses.
This innovation underscores the commitment to protecting the public’s access to government services while enhancing security and convenience.
Tags: Login.gov, identity verification, U.S. passport, GSA, Department of State, secure login, government services, fraud prevention, digital identity, federal government, online security, authentication