More states are digitizing benefits applications, requiring identity proofing

A growing number of states are making their social safety net benefits programs available online, and more are requiring identity proofing, according to a recent report.

A report published last week by the Digital Benefits Network, a think tank run by the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation at Georgetown University, found that several states, including Alaska, have within the past year created new standalone applications or added more programs to their integrated applications, with the aim of improving access to benefits like unemployment insurance, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.

Researchers also found that 75% of benefits applications required users to create an account. And an email address was required in 76% applications.

Researchers found that 42 of 164 applications examined required identity proofing, compared to 37 last year. Twenty-one of those prompt for identity-proofing before the application begins and 11 conduct proofing during the application process.

The group also tabulated the various identity-verification and security strategies states use, such as multifactor authentication, third-party identity services offered by Facebook, Google and ID.me, and in-person verification offered at some U.S. Postal Service offices.

Ariel Kennan, the Digital Benefits Network’s senior director, told StateScoop that researchers found states’ approaches to identity proofing varied widely, but that her group attempted to stay neutral in their report. The report notes, though, that poor implementation of identity proofing can “create significant barriers for eligible applicants and for beneficiaries.”

“[O]ur interest in this topic is based on our belief that all applicants deserve application processes that help them receive essential, life-saving benefits in a timely, dignified way,” the report reads.

Kennan said one policy her group does advocate for is for states to provide users with multiple options for identity proofing and account creation.

“One solution is never going to work for absolutely everyone, and so that is something we’ve documented, whether it’s optional for you to create an account,” she said. “Can you start an initial benefits application without creating an account? … That’s kind of our leading area: States do need to be providing those different options in order for people to have success in accessing these applications.”

The report shows that 56% of applications allow users to choose between more than one type of authenticator and that 12 applications allowed the use of authenticator apps. Michigan is cited as the only state allowing the use of passkeys, a type of public-key cryptography designed to replace passwords.

Twenty-seven applications use security questions as their only authenticator, which according to the report “create friction for applicants without offering significant security benefits.” According to an August brief from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, security questions are no longer considered a secure method of verifying identity.

“NIST does not recommend them anymore as an authenticator,” Kennan said of security questions. “Same goes for knowledge-based verification, which is the credit bureau history check, which does not work well for people with low banking history, for a variety of different reasons. All of that data has also been breached, so it’s not secure, and that’s how a lot of fraud was committed in the pandemic assistance programs.”

Kennan said the Digital Benefits Network is working on a separate project with NIST and the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology to develop a new tool and resources that will help state government officials follow NIST’s digital identity guidelines as they continue to update their benefits applications.

Elizabeth Bynum Sorrell, a senior researcher and engagement manager with the Digital Benefits Network, said she’s eager to work with state officials on those projects.

“One of the ways that’s happening is not just the NIST project but also through our new digital identity community of practice, where we’re creating a more open-ended space for engagement on key challenges related to identity and management in public benefits, to problem-solve, build connections and open a dialogue about what needs to happen in that space to advance secure access to benefits,” she said.