The Government's New Way to Verify Who You Are Online

The federal government has appointed Greg Hogan, a former technology leader at the Office of Personnel Management, to oversee Login.gov. This is the government's system that lets you use a single username and password to access services across more than 50 federal and state agencies. The timing matters because Login.gov just rolled out a stronger way to verify your identity for sensitive services.

Hogan spent 24 years working in technology at private companies and studied Computer Engineering, according to NextGov. At the Office of Personnel Management, he worked on the systems that handle background checks and security clearances for federal employees. That experience puts him in a good position to understand the security side of managing a government-wide identity system.

What Is Login.gov, and What Just Changed

Think of Login.gov like a master key. Instead of each federal website asking you to create a separate account, you create one account with Login.gov and use it everywhere. The system handles the security checks that make sure you are actually who you say you are.

In October 2024, Login.gov added a new level of identity checking called IAL2. This is a federal standard, set out by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, that requires the system to verify your real identity using official documents like a driver's license or passport, plus a photo match to make sure it is really you. An independent auditor has confirmed that Login.gov's new service meets this standard.

Why does this matter. Some government services handle sensitive personal information—like applying for benefits, managing taxes, or accessing Social Security. For those services, the government wants to be more certain they are talking to the real you, not someone pretending to be you. The new IAL2 capability lets agencies offer those higher-security services without building their own identity verification systems from scratch.

Why This Matters for You

Until now, if a federal agency wanted to offer online services that required strong identity proof, it often had to set up its own identity checking system. That is expensive and complicated. Login.gov's new IAL2 service gives agencies a shortcut. They can use it instead.

For you, it means fewer passwords to remember. You use the same Login.gov account across different agencies. That also makes it safer. The government can watch Login.gov in one central place and spot if something suspicious is happening, rather than waiting for each agency to catch a problem on its own.

The other benefit is simplicity. Many services that used to require you to show up in person—proving who you are to a government employee face-to-face—can now be done online, with Login.gov doing the identity check.

What Happens Next

The broader context here is that federal agencies have spent the last 15 years slowly moving away from old, separate computer systems toward modern shared platforms. The government realized it was wasteful for each agency to build and maintain its own systems for the same basic tasks. Login.gov fits that pattern. Instead of 50 agencies each running their own login and identity system, one system handles it for everyone.

Hogan's job will be to make sure Login.gov keeps working smoothly as more agencies sign on and more people use it. That is harder than it sounds. The system needs to stay secure, stay fast, and handle millions of requests. Adding leadership with both technology knowledge and experience managing federal systems suggests the government is serious about making Login.gov a permanent backbone of how citizens interact with government online.