The U.S. Postal Service will expand its digital fingerprinting service for more than 400 post offices by the end of 2021, FedScoop reported on Friday. USPS entered into an agreement with IDEMIA to integrate its biometric capture and in-person proofing services.
“We’ll be able to scale at whatever pace they want to once the initial solution is delivered,” Shane Powers, vice president of operations at IDEMIA National Security Solutions. “I think we’re going to see other agencies look at this model as well.”
The partnership will enable the U.S. Postal Service to further leverage its nationwide retail network and information infrastructure to better serve federal agencies and the American public through broader access to biometric capture and in-person proofing services. The award will also enable the Postal Service to meet its five-year strategic goal to improve people’s access to e-government services.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) introduced an electronic departmental order, which has required the U.S. Postal Service to conduct identity history summary checks (IDHSCs) of potential employees. As a result, the service launched a digital fingerprinting pilot with the FBI two years ago and found the new service took hours with a high return on investment.
With IDEMIA’s solutions, USPS has intended to extend digital fingerprinting to other federal agencies as well, which will support the employee vetting space across government.
"This announcement signals USPS's commitment to enabling its people, presence and prestige to better meet the needs of the American public in an increasingly digital world," said Andrew Boyd, CEO, IDEMIA NSS. "We are delighted to partner with USPS to help bring their vision forward, and to leverage USPS's broad infrastructure to offer the American people greater access to identity verification and assurance solutions."
