• PIV stands for Personal Identity Verification

• Pronounced “pɪv” (rhymes with “give”)

• Vertical, hard plastic card

• Has an employee’s first and last name, picture, and agency name printed on the front

• Different statuses have a different colorful bar running horizontally across the center of the badge: White indicates a federal employee, blue indicates a foreign national, and green indicates a federal contractor.

• These badges have embedded chips and use Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology to encrypt data and strengthen the security of employees' information. 

• Getting a PIV Badge requires a background check completed by the National Background Investigation Services, which is administered by the Defense Counterintelligence Security Agency. This is separate from your ISU background check. 

• PIV Badges are printed by DOE and shipped to the Lab. 

• PIV Badges can carry security clearance, although most employees at Ames Lab won’t have a security clearance.

• The process to get a PIV Badge can take up to 3 months. Getting a PIV Badge with security clearance usually takes between 9 and 12 months.

• PIV Badges expire in 5 years. The Badging Office will notify you before the expiration so you can complete the process again to get a new badge.

• You may hear PIV Badges referred to as “HSPD-12 Badges” after Homeland Security Presidential Directive - 12, which mandated government-wide standards for identification, authentication, and authorization to access federal facilities and information systems.

You do not need both an Ames Lab Badge and a PIV Badge. If you are eligible for a PIV Badge, we recommend waiting until we notify you that it’s your turn to get one and continuing to use your ISUCard for identification and door access in the meantime. If you are eligible for a PIV Badge, you can get an Ames Lab Badge now if you want to, but you will still need to get a PIV Badge later.

We need to replace our current badge scanners before PIV Badges will work with them. This work is in progress, and targeted to be complete in 2026. We will keep you updated. You can keep using your ISUCard for now for door access. We will work with you to transfer door access from your ISUCard to your PIV Badge when it’s time.

We’ll start the process to get current employees PIV Badges once our badge tracking system is ready. Employees will be contacted to start the PIV Badge process in batches by birthday month – for example, during June, the Badging Office will reach out to employees with June birthdays. It will take 2 years to get everyone at the Lab who needs one a PIV Badge.

Yes, you will have your picture taken for both the PIV Badge and the Ames Lab Badge. You’ll get your picture taken in the Badging Office. PIV Badge photos are similar to passport photos in that you need to make a neutral expression and keep your mouth closed. 

Yes, to get a PIV Badge, the Badging Office will use a digital scanner to capture your fingerprints. 

Not until you start the PIV process. After you are notified to start the PIV process and complete the forms for enrollment, you’ll schedule an appointment through USAccess to go to the Badging Office to complete your enrollment process, and again when it’s time to pick up and activate your card. USAccess will also send you email reminders before your PIV Badge expires in five years. Those of you who already have PIV Badges may recognize this system - it’s the same one you used to make appointments at the USDA facility down the street when you got your badge.

The Badging Office will notify you before it’s your turn to start the process to get your PIV Badge.

“Sponsor” is the term the federal government uses to describe one of the roles in the PIV Badge request process. The sponsor helps ensure the PIV forms you complete  get to the right groups and initiates the request to start your federal background check. Our sponsor is a Department of Energy (DOE) employee at Argonne National Laboratory.

No, if you already have a PIV Badge, you do not need to get a new one at this time.

No, if you already have a PIV Badge, your renewal cycle will not change. Only employees who do not already have PIV Badges will start their renewal cycles with their birth months.

Each PIV Badge has a chip in it, and embedded within the chip are things called “digital certificates.” These certificates contain information about the badge itself, your name, email address, and a digital signature from the Department of Energy validating your identity. When a device reads your badge (like a door scanner or a computer), it examines these certificates to determine whether to let you into a building or network. The only personal information stored on your PIV Badge is your name and email address. Your PIV Badge also contains something called a “private key” that is protected by encryption and can only be accessed using a PIN number you’ll set up when you receive your PIV Badge. The private key on a PIV Badge is like a secret password that only you know. This key is used to unlock and prove your identity when you access secure systems or sign documents digitally. Just like you wouldn’t share your password with anyone, the private key is kept safe and secure on the badge, ensuring that only you can use it. Although we won’t use PIV Badges to access our computers anytime soon, these certificates would allow us to do that in the future.

When you come to pick up your PIV Badge, you’ll set a PIN number for it. The only way for anyone to access the private key on your card is with this PIN number, so never share it with anyone. We’ll also give you a badge holder that blocks RFID scanning, so that your badge can only be scanned by devices you want to when you want it to (like door scanners). The best way to protect the information on your PIV Badge is to not wear it outside of Ames Lab. 

If you lose your badge, report this to the Badging Office immediately - we will turn off the badge’s building access remotely so no one can use it to get into Ames Lab facilities. We’ll also start the process to deactivate your PIV Badge, which will wipe all the certificates off of it. Remember: No one can access the private key on your badge without your PIN number, so always keep that information safe. Once a PIV Badge is deactivated, it cannot be reactivated, so you’ll need to get a new PIV Badge. We’ll issue you a temporary badge in the meantime.

No, if you lose your PIV Badge, you won’t be charged to get a new one. Please do let us know if you lose your badge as soon as possible so we can turn off the badge’s door access and wipe its information.

If you have a PIV Badge, then yes, you need to keep it in a badge holder with RFID blocking technology. This protects your card from being scanned when you don’t want it to, which keeps your information safe. You'll receive a federally-approved RFID-blocking badge holder when you come get your PIV Badge. Ames Lab Badges and ISUCards do not need to be kept in RFID-blocking badge holders.

Yes, you can use a PIV Badge to encrypt and decrypt emails when you need to send or receive sensitive information. The digital certificates in your badge help create secure connections so you can send information safely. You’ll use your PIV Badge’s pin number to encrypt or decrypt emails using Outlook. We’ll put together more guidance on how to do this as more people receive their PIV Badges. In the meantime, reach out to IT through the IT General Request form in ServiceNow for directions.

If you forget your PIN, then you will need to make an appointment with the Badging Office to get it reset.  The PIN is used to access the private key embedded with the certificates on the card and is commonly used for email encryption and decryption.