US now wants to issue their own ‘Ghana Card’ as Digital ID Bill is introduced

The United States House and Senate is considering passing a bill to introduce a national biometric identity system.

The bill, dubbed Improving Digital Identity Bill, is aimed at enforcing a digital identification system, which will help both Americans and the Federal government to digitally verify identities in the midst of increasing identity fraud, which is causing the US Government billions of dollars.

According to reports, identity fraud losses in the US increased from $16.9 billion in 2019 to $56 billion in 2020.

The bill has been reviewed by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and is expected to pass through once the Committee returns from its recess. A nearly identical version of the bill has also been introduced in the Senate, which means that it is one step closer to becoming law.

Once passed, the Digital Identity Act would give the Federal Government the legislative foundation it needs to start providing a digital ID service for American citizens, or their version of the Ghanacard.

Interestingly, what the United States’ Digital Identity Bill seeks to achieve, is ensuring a robust national digital identity system, is what the Ghanacard is doing in Ghana.

Jeremy Grant, the coordinator of the Better Identity Coalition and former official at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, praised the latest news in a statement.

“So many services – in banking, government, and e-commerce – depend on knowing who is on the other side of a transaction,” he said. “But the events of the last few years have made clear that our old identity systems have not transitioned well to the digital world – creating friction in commerce, fueling increased fraud and theft, degrading privacy, and hindering the availability of many services online.”

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Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) also voiced her support, saying that, “a secure digital identity infrastructure is an essential foundation to American economic and national security.”