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Webinar: Modernizing Digital Identity: Upgrading the Base Layer of the Digital Economy, Combatting Fraud, and Preserving Privacy

Presented by the Alliance for Innovative Regulation (AIR) and Persona Identities, Inc.

📅 Tuesday, September 22, 2026
🕙 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM ET
💻 Virtual

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Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing what it means to prove that someone is who they claim to be.

Deepfakes, voice cloning, stolen credentials and synthetic identities are weakening many of the signals financial institutions, government agencies and consumers have traditionally relied on. At the same time, stronger identity checks can require people to share even more sensitive information, creating new privacy, security and consumer-experience challenges.

The Alliance for Innovative Regulation (AIR) and Persona invite you to a 90-minute virtual program exploring how the U.S. can modernize digital identity for an AI-enabled economy. Leaders from government, technology, financial services and policy will examine growing identity and fraud challenges, emerging approaches such as mobile driver’s licenses and portable digital credentials, and the practical steps needed to move toward trustworthy public- and private-sector adoption.

The program will move from the problem, to emerging solutions, to the policy and implementation hurdles ahead. Join us for the full conversation or drop in for the segments most relevant to your work.

Featured Segments

11:00–11:25 AM ET | Bipartisan Congressional Perspective on AI, Identity and Trust

• Jo Ann Barefoot, Alliance for Innovative Regulation (AIR)
• Congressman Bill Foster, U.S. House of Representatives (D-Illinois)
• Congressman Pete Sessions, U.S. House of Representatives (R-Texas)

Jo Ann Barefoot will open the program by framing why digital identity has become an urgent financial-system and economic-infrastructure issue before sitting down with Congressman Bill Foster and Congressman Pete Sessions for a focused conversation on why action is needed now, where bipartisan progress may be possible and what policymakers can do to strengthen identity infrastructure while protecting privacy.

The discussion will explore the growing threat of AI-enabled impersonation, the role of interoperable digital credentials and what meaningful progress could look like during the next five years.

11:25–11:40 AM ET | The AI-Driven Identity, Fraud and Privacy Crisis

• Kate Griffin, The Aspen Institute
• James Lee, Identity Theft Resource Center

What happens when documents, images and voices can all be fabricated?

This segment will examine how deepfakes, voice cloning, synthetic identities and stolen data are undermining familiar identity checks. Speakers will explore how these attacks work, where current systems break down and what financial institutions and other organizations can no longer safely assume is proof of identity

11:40 AM–12:00 PM ET | Modern Countermeasures: Mobile Driver’s Licenses and Portable Digital Credentials

• Will Wilkinson, Persona Identities, Inc.
• Yaya Fanusie, Aleo Network
• Wayne Chang, SpruceID

Could digital credentials provide stronger identity assurance while requiring people to disclose less personal information?

Through practical use cases and an interactive audience poll, this segment will explore how mobile driver’s licenses and portable digital credentials could work in financial services. Speakers will examine verification, selective disclosure, cryptographic proofs, interoperability and what happens when real-world complications arise, from lost devices to mismatched records.

12:00–12:30 PM ET | From Pilots to Adoption: Practical Hurdles and Policy Pathways

• Sunayna Tuteja, former Chief Innovation Officer, Federal Reserve System
• John Carlson, American Bankers Association
• Arun Vemury, Department of Homeland Security

Promising technology alone will not create a trusted digital identity ecosystem.

This conversation will examine why adoption stalls and what could move it forward, including legacy-system integration, regulatory uncertainty, interoperability, liability, consumer safeguards and recovery processes. Speakers will identify practical actions financial institutions, policymakers, regulators, standards bodies and technology providers can take during the next two years.

Jo Ann Barefoot will close the program by connecting the challenges, emerging solutions and policy pathways explored throughout the event.

Additional speakers will be announced as confirmed.

Register Now

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