Login.gov director departs for the private sector

The government’s single sign-on and identity proofing service, Login.gov, has lost its top leadership after its director, Hanna Kim, left her post at the end of last month.

Login.gov is used by over 100 million people across 52 agencies and states as a gateway to government programs like Social Security. Whoever leads the government identity proofing service next could impact how millions of Americans interact with the government online. Trump appointees have called the identity proofing service critical to their anti-fraud agenda. 

Kim started at Login.gov as its deputy director in 2024, and moved into the director position months later. She’s now working at Microsoft as senior director for responsible AI product and strategic initiatives, she told Nextgov/FCW.

Login.gov’s deputy director, Matt Pritchard, is now serving as the service’s acting director, according to a spokesperson for the General Services Administration, which runs Login.gov. 

“With decades of experience leading product teams, Matt brings the technical expertise and results-focused, data-driven approach needed to continue leading Login.gov forward,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Under Kim’s tenure, Login.gov added facial recognition to the service last year. In 2023, GSA’s watchdog found that GSA had been misleading other government agencies by claiming that it met an identity proofing standard — at the time most easily met using a biometric like facial recognition — that it did not.

When it installed facial recognition, Login.gov also launched an option for some users to verify themselves in person at post offices. 

This alternative for people who can’t or don’t want to use biometric technology is something Kim is especially proud of, she told Nextgov/FCW.

“Having a strong public sector option that puts security and privacy and the public at the center of every decision we make — not just in what we do, but how we do it — I think empowers the people with real choices for identity,” said Kim. 

The identity proofing space has been subject to lobbying over who controls the gateway to government online, with commercial companies pushing their products as alternatives to Login.gov and jockeying to help power the government-run service as contractors behind the scenes.

There’s an “imperative to be able to serve every member of the public,” Kim said of public service, which she noted she may come back to in the future.

Under the Trump administration, Login.gov and digital identity haven’t been immune to political disagreements. In June, the White House axed digital identity provisions from a Biden-era executive order, citing false claims about immigrants.

And in the early months of the Trump administration, Login.gov showed up in news stories when a Trump appointee spoke about connecting the service with other government datasets. The administration’s push to share sensitive data across agencies, often for the purposes of White House goals like immigration enforcement and voter ID checks, has resulted in lawsuits and concern about privacy implications. 

But adding more government data to the mix has been a goal for the GSA service. Although the government has a lot of data about people it could use in the identity proofing process, it largely doesn’t, often turning to credit bureaus instead. Login.gov recently added passports as a way that people can prove their identity. 

Asked about privacy and surveillance concerns in relation to Login.gov, Kim said that “there's an expectation and a clear sense of responsibility [at Login.gov] that we need to treat our public's data with the utmost importance, and that's why I think I am personally not worried.”

“The reason why I'm able to leave Login.gov purely because of my personal decision is because I haven't been worried about those things,” she added.