Privacy & security: Our privacy act statement

Our privacy act statement

The Login.gov service is provided by the U.S. General Services Administration to offer the public secure and private online access to participating government programs. Using only one Login.gov account, users can sign into multiple government agency sites. Our goal is to make managing federal benefits, services, and applications faster, easier, and more secure.

By accessing the Login.gov service, you acknowledge and agree to this Privacy Act Statement and the Login.gov Rules of Use, which together describe how your information is collected, used, and shared. We will post any changes to these terms to this page. If at any time you no longer agree to this Privacy Act Statement or any other relevant terms of the Login.gov service, you may delete your account.

The Authority - Who authorizes the collection of this data?

The information you provide is collected pursuant to 6 USC § 1523 (b)(1)(A)-(E), the E-Government Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107–347, 44 U.S.C. 3501 note), 40 USC § 501, 40 USC § 502, and OMB M-19-17.

The Purpose - Why do we need your information?

Login.gov partners with agencies that need secure and private access to their applications and services. Each agency may request different levels of security depending on their needs. When you create and sign in to a Login.gov account, you’re provided with an electronic identity assurance credential. We need your personally identifying information, or PII, to generate that credential. Imagine this credential like a key that only you can use. The key securely opens the door to a partner agency’s service or application. We also need information to ensure that your identity information is accurate - and not someone else’s.

What information do we need?

For authentication to establish a secure account, we need your email address and an authentication method. Your authentication method could be a phone number where we share a SMS code, USB Security Key, or another option.
Identity proofing requires more sensitive information such as a Social Security number, address, phone number, and an ID (such as your driver’s license, state ID, or U.S. passport). For access to certain partner agency systems or applications, a self-photograph may be needed to verify the U.S. based federal or state ID as further proof of your identity by comparing it to the portrait on your government-issued ID.
During identity proofing, your phone carrier may disclose your mobile number, name, address, email, network status, customer type, customer role, billing type, mobile device identifiers (IMSI and IMEI) and other subscriber status and device details, if available, to our third party service provider, solely to verify your identity for the duration of the business relationship.
To mitigate fraud, we also analyze the device used to access Login.gov, metadata associated with your login.gov session, and behavior such as how you interact with forms on the page.
When you go through identity verification, we keep a secure, encrypted copy of the identity documents you submit (such as your state ID, driver’s license, or passport, and any self-photographs.) We also keep information about your verification attempts. This information is maintained and may be disclosed to other authorized federal agencies to help detect and prevent identity fraud. Disclosures are made in accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 and the routine uses described in our System of Records Notice (GSA/TTS-1), and are governed by written agreements requiring the receiving agency to protect the information consistent with the Privacy Act and applicable federal law and policy.

The information described above is collected and maintained to detect and prevent identity fraud. Identity fraud against government programs is often committed using stolen or synthetic identities across multiple verification attempts; detecting it requires analyzing attempt information, including attempts that aren’t complete. This information is disclosed to partner agencies for use in detecting and investigating fraud against their programs and in providing redress to affected individuals.

Routine Uses - With whom is the information routinely shared?

To third parties providing remote or in-person authentication and identity proofing services, including other federal agencies providing such services, as necessary to authenticate or identity proof you for access to a participating government website or application.
To an expert, consultant, or contractor of GSA in the performance of a Federal duty to which the information is relevant.
To the Government Publishing Office (GPO), when Login.gov needs to mail you an address confirmation form or if you request mailed notifications of account changes or of proofing attempts.
To other federal agencies and third-party fraud prevention services as necessary to detect and investigate suspected fraud, including providing you with redress.

This list is not comprehensive. Please see system of records notice GSA/TTS-1 for all entities and individuals to whom the information may be routinely shared.

All records are stored electronically in a database in GSA’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) environment. Login.gov’s vendors store personal information used for fraud detection for a limited period, not to exceed one year, after which it is deleted unless needed to investigate or prevent suspected fraud or as otherwise required by law.

Login.gov retains the personal information from your verification attempts (such as your name, address, and any other information you provide) for up to one year for fraud detection and investigation, unless a longer period is required by law or to support an active fraud investigation. The encrypted copies of the identity documents you submit (such as your state ID, driver’s license, or passport, and any self-photograph) are retained for a longer period, until their business use ceases, in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) guidance. During the first year, Login.gov can access these documents. After one year, Login.gov can no longer access them, though they remain stored in encrypted form. A participating agency that received information about your verification may retrieve these documents for fraud investigations for as long as the information is needed for that purpose.

Your personal information, including profiles, log-in files, password files, audit trail files and extracts, system usage records, and agency billing data used to assess charges for system use, will be maintained for as long as you have an active account, unless longer retention is required for business use, such as for law enforcement matters or other legal actions in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) guidance. This personal information is necessary to provide users access to information and services at partner agencies.

There may be circumstances where we are required to share certain data. Please refer to the “routine uses” section of the system of records notice linked above for more information on those circumstances.

You provide consent at two points. First, by agreeing to this Privacy Act Statement and the Rules of Use before you begin, you consent to Login.gov collecting and using your information as described here, including sharing information about your identity verification attempts (including attempts you do not complete), with an agency authorized to receive this data where you begin or attempt to access that agency’s service, to help that agency detect and prevent fraud. Second, your validated personal data is encrypted, and it is shared with a partner agency only when you, the authorized user, explicitly grants consent to share the information. You decide if you want to share personal information with any agency and you can revoke consent at any time. Revoking consent stops future sharing of your information with an agency. It does not delete information that has already been shared, and it does not affect information retained for fraud detection and investigation as described above. You can modify, or amend, either your email address or phone number on your account page.

However, failure to provide complete and accurate information may delay access to the partner agency. Login.gov does not make any eligibility or suitability determinations; that is the responsibility of the government websites that use the Login.gov service. Other than as specified in this Privacy Act Statement, our Rules of Use, and the routine uses in our System of Records Notice, we will never share your information without your consent.

When you create an account or visit a new partner agency website after you have created your account, you will see the option to consent to share your information with the partner agency. You are required to give consent yearly for each agency.

Remember you can update your personal information, revoke consent, or delete your account at any time through your account page.

Fraud mitigation - How do we stop bad actors?

Identity fraud is someone pretending to be you and attempting to access a partner agency using your Login.gov information. Login.gov protects your data from bad actors. Our product works with trusted third-party vendors to make sure it is you - and not someone pretending to be you - accessing your account. These vendors look for changes and risks in user behavior that might indicate a fraud attempt.

To support fraud detection and investigation, authorized Login.gov fraud operations personnel and authorized agencies may review information about verification attempts. Within Login.gov, your personal information is restricted to authorized personnel, hidden by default, and viewed only when needed for a fraud investigation.

Records - Where can you find more information?

Please see the Login.gov system of records notice (GSA/TTS–1).

Website Analytics – Other data we collect

Other data, like the pages you visit and the length of your session, are aggregated into reports to help us better understand how the site is being used and how we can make it more helpful. The data is anonymized. No personally identifying user information is tied to this data and it is only shared anonymously with the Login.gov team.

We collect device information and behavioral analytics to assess for risk of misuse. This information is stored in an obfuscated manner. Login.gov is able to assess device and behavioral risk from this obscured data store, but neither Login.gov nor its providers can read the information.

Privacy Impact Assessment

View our privacy impact assessment at www.gsa.gov/PIA for further details on how Login.gov collects, uses, secures, and deletes information in ways that protect privacy.

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