Page 25 - Federal Computer Week, July 2019

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DHS seeks to centralize access to biometric data
An E-Verify for SSNs
The Social Security Administration plans to allow financial institutions to electronically verify Social Security numbers, with a pilot program launching in June 2020.
The move is required under the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, which was signed into law last year. The law describes the plan as an anti-fraud measure and notes that minors and recent immigrants are most susceptible
to the kind of synthetic identity fraud — the construction of a false identity using real information — that can be enabled by the fraudulent use of Social Security numbers.
Currently, SSA requires people to submit a signed paper document expressing consent to have their Social Security numbers validated. Under the new law, SSA must establish a fee-based verification service and a database for electronic Consent Based Social Security Number Verification (eCBSV). SSA is required to fund the effort with fees paid upfront by participating institutions, and the system must be able to process batch verification requests on a large scale.
In a June 7 notice in the Federal Register, SSA announced the launch of the program and issued a call for participants to apply to be part of the pilot or a planned expansion six months after the initial launch.
The law requires that SSA collect 50 percent of the cost of the system prior to development. Existing IT funds can also be spent on the project, however.
— Adam Mazmanian
The Department of Homeland Security wants to expand data analysis capabilities for its biometric and facial recognition capabilities despite growing controversy over their use.
According to a June 17 request for information, the Office of Biometric Identity Management at DHS is looking for contractors to help develop, integrate and implement capabilities for a host of software systems, including its legacy biometric
identification system, IDENT, and its replacement, the Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology system. HART will be moved to a FedRAMP-certified, Amazon Web Services cloud, according to the document.
Planned new capabilities for HART, which is not yet operational, include examination tools that can analyze and match faces, fingerprints and irises. DHS wants to eventually do the same for other biometric markers such as DNA, palm prints, scars, tattoos and voices. The systems will generate massive quantities of data, so officials are seeking tools that can process and analyze large datasets in an Amazon cloud environment.
DHS shares biometric data with a number of other federal agencies, and its systems link with companion systems at the departments of Defense and Justice. DHS also has information- sharing agreements with the State Department as well as state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement agencies.
In addition, the department worked with the Mexican government to
capture biometric data for tens of thousands of Central American migrants arrested by Mexican authorities.
The RFI comes at a time when some lawmakers are asking DHS to put the brakes on the use of facial recognition technologies and questioning the legal underpinnings of many of the government’s biometric programs. Earlier this month, DHS announced that hackers had compromised the IT systems of one of its contractors, stealing tens of thousands of photos taken of travelers as they crossed the U.S. border for use in facial recognition programs.
Although DHS’ systems weren’t directly compromised, the incident raised concerns in the cybersecurity community about whether the government could be trusted to secure massive troves of biometric data.
Last year, the Electronic Privacy Information Center obtained an internal privacy threshold analysis of HART through a Freedom of Information Act request and found that DHS had not conducted a privacy impact assessment for the system. A PIA is a public document that identifies privacy risks for government information systems throughout their life cycles.
The “minibus” appropriations bill working its way through Congress includes $266 million in new funding for Customs and Border Protection to acquire border security technology and assets. A Democratic staffer told FCW that the legislation gives CBP flexibility to use the money for any tool or technology that it believes would help secure the border, including enhanced biometric and facial recognition capabilities.
— Derek B. Johnson
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