Minnesota State seeks automated identity checks to curb enrollment fraud

Representative Duran introduced HF 46‑98 to the House Higher Education Committee, saying Minnesota State colleges and universities spend significant staff time investigating false or ‘ghost’ enrollments and that an automated identity‑proofing system would speed enrollment and reduce harm from identity theft.

“My name is Craig Munson and I’m chief information security officer for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities,” Munson told the committee, describing a commercial system that uses document verification, a selfie image matched to a state ID and behavioral analytics. He said peer institutions saw an early reduction in fraud investigations — about 50% shortly after going live — and that the system would also cut staff investigative workload.

Committee members focused on privacy, retention and equity. Munson said the system would not collect fingerprints or retinal scans, that selfie and ID images would be handled under vendor agreements and state data‑practice protections, and that the institutions intend to delete images “as quickly as possible” once validation is complete. He also acknowledged accuracy limitations across demographic groups and said the system would include alternate verification paths if a match fails. “It is 98% for a white male like myself; it goes down into the 60’s percentages for people of different skin color,” Munson said, describing current performance variability and the need for safeguards.

Members pressed for Chapter 13 (data practices) language in the bill and asked whether Minnesota State could use an existing state solution. Munson said the system is still under vendor evaluation and that the fiscal request in the bill (one author’s estimate referenced in committee) would include a $1.5 million initial appropriation in FY27 plus ongoing maintenance and per‑application charges; he noted Minnesota State receives roughly 360,000 applications annually.

The committee did not vote on the bill. Representative Duran said he would work on data‑practice language; the committee laid HF 46‑98 over for possible inclusion and further drafting.

Why it matters: The proposal aims to reduce identity theft and staff time spent on manual verification, but it raises familiar tradeoffs between operational efficiency and biometric privacy, accuracy and equity. The author and Minnesota State will need to clarify data retention, oversight, vendor contracts and recurring costs before the committee advances the measure.