Today's digital age demands a new 21st Century Identification infrastructure that is built to adapt as technology advances and as the demands for privacy and privacy protection increase. PID Project will showcase the "privatization of identification" by establishing the necessary infrastructure to issue Personal Identification or PID, a biometric enabled identity credential that will set the stage as the de facto standard of a true identity credential.

The objective of the Project is to enable States to streamline the identification process across departments and agencies to save millions of dollars lost to identity fraud each year, protect the privacy of state residents and reduce administrative and material costs associated with current processes.

The Project demonstrates that there are state-led identification solutions that work more efficiently and effectively to solve multiple identification issues rather than those that are federally mandated and solve only federal issues.

State Governors have the opportunity to implement an identification solution that best addresses the issues and needs of their State or Commonwealth and one that best protects State residents. Whether it is disaster identification/FEMA issues, Medicaid fraud, REAL ID, State employee identification, public assistance programs, immigration/E-Verify, registered sex offenders, missing children, durable medical equipment or another important identification issue, the Governor can choose which issue he or she wants the pilot project to address.

THE NEED

PID Project establishes a new identification process for the digital age. Fraud thrives on current systems used by state agencies to issue driver's licenses, benefit cards etc. because all rely on using government-issued documents (birth certificates, Social Security cards) that are easy to forge, steal or even obtain legally, for verification purposes. Presently, 15 states offer birth certificates as public documents or make copies available for information purposes.

None of the documents were meant for identification (Social Security numbers were created to verify income, birth certificates to record a birth) yet they are used to open bank accounts, obtain medical care or gain employment. Weak document issuance processes, internal fraud, the proliferation of document mills, and the ability to spoof verification systems make it possible for individuals – legally or illegally present – to fraudulently hold valid credentials in the United States.