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A Single Door to Government
One login. Every federal service. Canada already built this in 2005 — 87 million transactions a year, 80%+ satisfaction. Here's what it would take to build ours.
From Idea to Action
The chapter proposes Service USA — a single account connecting every federal service, from Social Security to passport renewal — and backs it with real working examples from four other countries.
Why Public Services Feel Fragmented
One life event — job loss, a new baby, a move — routinely spans unemployment insurance, healthcare.gov, tax records, and Social Security, each with its own login and paperwork. The chapter’s real example: Maria, who lost her job and spent weeks bouncing between separate systems just to access benefits she was already entitled to.
What Service USA Could Do
Four countries already run versions of this: Canada’s Service Canada (since 2005) processes 87 million transactions a year, manages $170 billion in benefits, and holds an 80%+ satisfaction rate. Estonia runs 99% of government services through one digital identity, saving an estimated 2% of GDP annually. Australia’s myGov delivered emergency COVID payments to millions of people in days, not weeks. The UK’s GOV.UK unified hundreds of separate government sites and saves the UK government £61.5 million a year.
What Must Be Protected
The chapter is honest about real obstacles: the Privacy Act genuinely restricts how agencies can share data with each other, and a single unified portal creates a single point of failure for cybersecurity. Any real version needs privacy, access, and accountability built in from day one.
How a Pilot Could Start
The chapter names real, already-existing first steps: Login.gov, a genuine federal initiative building single sign-on across agencies, plus ongoing work by the U.S. Digital Service and GSA’s Technology Transformation Service.