[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 28 (Friday, February 10, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8863-8864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02918]


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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

[OMB Control No. 3090-XXXX; Docket No. 2022-0001; Sequence No. 16]


Submission for OMB Review; GSA Equity Study on Remote Identity 
Proofing

AGENCY: Technology Transformation Services (TTS), General Services 
Administration (GSA).

ACTION: Notice of request for comments regarding a new request for an 
OMB clearance.

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, GSA will 
be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to 
review and approve a new information collection requirement. 
Respondents to this information collection will test several remote 
identity proofing services and provide demographic information to help 
better understand the behavior and impacts of remote identity-proofing 
technologies.

DATES: Submit comments on or before March 13, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for this information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information 
collection by selecting ``Currently under Review--Open for Public 
Comments''; or by using the search Function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Tiffany Andrews or Gerardo E. Cruz-Ortiz by phone 
202-969-0772 or via email to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Purpose

    The GSA ``Equity Study on Remote Identity Proofing'' will assess 
the impact of ethnicity, race, gender, income, and other demographic 
factors on the components of identity proofing, which is the process of 
verifying that a person is who they say they are. GSA will test remote 
identity-proofing tools that include both biometric checks using facial 
verification technology as well as non-biometric methods like mobile-
device account ownership and credit history. NIST's SP 800-63-3 
guidelines for remote one-to-one identity proofing serve as a framework 
for the study.
    GSA will publish an anonymized, peer-reviewed report of our 
findings, to help us make informed decisions regarding identity 
verification capabilities. The report will present a

[[Page 8864]]

statistical analysis of failures and successes for the proofing checks 
and explore the causes behind negative or inconclusive results. These 
results will help GSA understand the current technological barriers to 
equitable identity-proofing services for the public.
    GSA will partner with a recruitment partner to engage the general 
American public to participate in the study. Respondents will be asked 
to share demographic information to help GSA understand if and how 
these variables impact the performance of various remote identity-
proofing solutions; GSA will collect the respondent's race, ethnicity, 
gender, age, income, educational level, and other demographic data.
    The identity-proofing workflow will also collect the following 
personally identifiable information (PII): a picture of the 
respondent's government-issued identification card (including face 
reference, name, date of birth, physical address, and document number), 
Social Security Number, phone number, and a picture of the respondent's 
face. Identity-proofing vendors will delete all respondent data from 
their systems within 24 hours of collection. GSA will retain records of 
this study in accordance with GSA's retention schedule for Customer 
Research and Reporting Records and any other applicable federal records 
schedules (See: https://www.archives.gov/files/records-mgmt/rcs/schedules/independent-agencies/rg-0269/daa-0269-2016-0013_sf115.pdf).
    While respondents are using the study's web-based platform, GSA 
will also collect the personal mobile device's hardware and software 
data as well as device-behavioral information (how the device and its 
applications are used).
    GSA will share de-identified demographic information, and identity-
proofing results with an academic partner that will analyze the results 
and assist GSA in publishing a peer-reviewable academic paper.
    Upon completion of the study, respondents will be asked to complete 
an exit survey that gathers additional demographic information, consent 
for publication, and feedback on the study.
    Respondents who complete all study questions will be compensated 
for their participation in this study.

B. Annual Reporting Burden

    Respondents: 2,000-4,000.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Hours per Response: .75 hours.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 3,000.

C. Discussion and Analysis

    A 60-day notice was published in the Federal Register at 87 FR 
57496 on September 20, 2022. GSA received two public comments 
discussing the following three areas:

--Mobile Device Model: The commenter discussed concerns about the 
impact of the mobile device type and model as well as its capabilities 
and age on the results of the study. GSA is aware of this potential 
variable and will explore the hypothesis that device type and age might 
influence proofing results. The study platform collects device data 
including mobile browser, operating system, and device model year; this 
data will enable an analysis of proofing results with respect to the 
devices' capabilities.
--Human Verification Concerns: The commenter recommended that GSA 
leverage automated systems given their higher performance over human 
evaluators. This study will not consider any identity proofing product 
that relies on or includes human verification or assistance. 
Furthermore, minimizing the number of people who are involved in 
verifying someone's identity will improve the system's privacy and 
security.
--Other Biometric Proofing Methods: The commenter suggested other 
biometric proofing methods including ``Iris, palm, fingerprint, and 
voice'' which are common in other parts of the world. GSA may consider 
these ideas for future studies.

    Commenters found ``little to no burden'' in our information 
collection. GSA had already implemented the recommendation to use 
mobile devices. The other recommendation was to gather other biometric 
pieces of information that cannot be collected with our currently 
available commercial services nor fit within the required timeline.
    GSA is consulting with the Center for Information Technology 
Research (CITeR) and researchers at Clarkson University to ensure that 
the statistical design of the study is sound. GSA representatives have 
met with staff from other government agencies that have conducted 
similar research such as DHS's Science and Technology group (DHS S&T). 
Both of these groups have agreed that the collection is useful and 
necessary to improve the delivery of government services.
    Obtaining Copies of Proposals: Requesters may obtain a copy of the 
information collection documents from the Regulatory Secretariat 
Division by calling 202-501-4755 or emailing [email protected]. Please 
cite OMB Control No. ``3090-XXXX, GSA Equity Study on Remote Identity 
Proofing'' in all correspondence.

Beth Anne Killoran,
Deputy Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023-02918 Filed 2-9-23; 8:45 am]
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