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January 31, 2023

On the web

January 17, 2023

On the web

French Security Giant Joins EU Identity Wallet Pilot

Mobile ID World

The France-based security giant IDEMIA has announced that it will be part of a consortium that will pilot EU Digital Identity Wallet prototypes. IDEMIA is joining the so-called “POTENTIAL Consortium”, which will comprise 148 participants from 19 European Union states as well as Ukraine. IDEMIA’s official announcement offered few details about POTENTIAL, but explained that its pilot would be focused on six use cases for the EUIDW: “Electronic Government services”, “Account opening”, “SIM registration”, “Mobile Driving Licence”, “Remote Qualified Electronic Signature”, and “Electronic Prescription”.

July 14, 2022

On the web

Will EU Digital Identity Drop the Unique Identifier?

Biometric Update

“The European Commission may be changing its mind about its proposed requirement for all European Union member states to incorporate unique identifiers in digital IDs that become part of the bloc’s interoperable ID structure. Proposals to remove the mandate are being considered by the committee overseeing legislative development, and a Commission spokesperson has told news outlet Euractiv that a single identifier is negotiable. A persistent, or lifelong, unique identifier could be used to track individuals across any government database. While the first-look regulation on identity in 2014 was based on privacy by design, the Commission has added persistent identifiers for eIDAS 2.0, being developed.”

July 6, 2022

On the web

Peru Issues 7M Digital ID Cards With id3 Biometrics, NXP Chips

Biometric Update

“Fingerprint biometric algorithms from id3 Technologies are being used in Peru’s new digital identity cards, after being selected by NXP Semiconductors, according to a company announcement. Id3’s match-on-card fingerprint algorithm is being embedded in the Peruvian national electronic identity card (DNIe). The card will be used for secure, efficient access to public services. Peru’s government envisions the digital ID being used for secure electronic transactions and electronic voting, id3 says.”

Giesecke+Devrient Acquires Valid’s Payment and Identity Solutions Business in the U.S.

G+D

“Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), a global security technology group, today announced the acquisition of the payment and identity solutions business of Valid USA. With this step, G+D aims to accelerate growth in the U.S., one of the world’s largest payment and identity markets. G+D customers will benefit from the enlarged business size in the face of persistent industry-wide supply chain challenges. G+D and Valid, headquartered in Brazil, today signed an Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) for the acquisition of Valid’s payment and identity solutions business in the U.S. by G+D. This includes the three manufacturing facilities in Downers Grove (Illinois), Bolingbrook (Illinois) and Fort Wayne (Indiana), which collectively employ more than 400 people as well as parts of the Valid USA headquarters in Lisle (Illinois).”

July 9, 2021

On the wires

Socure Unveils Industry’s First BNPL-Specific Solution, Extending Its Leadership in Identity Verification and Trust for Alternative Payment Providers

Socure , the leading platform for digital identity verification and trust, today announced the introduction of the first identity verification and fraud solution purpose-built for the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) industry. The solution leverages the technology and data currently used by more than 100 top BNPL providers, alternative payment providers, fintechs, banks, and credit card issuers. Socure developed the solution using deep identity and transaction data that enables multiple leading BNPL providers to attract new merchants, power their growth by converting more qualified shoppers in real time, and reduce loss rates.”

June 2, 2021

On the wires

Mitek Acquires ID R&D to Lead Fight Against Biometric Identity Fraud

Mitek (NASDAQ: MITK), a global leader in digital identity verification, today announced that it has acquired ID R&D , an award-winning provider of artificial intelligence (AI)-based voice and face biometrics and liveness detection. Shareholders of ID R&D will be entitled to receive up to $49 million in Mitek stock and cash as consideration. ID R&D’s pioneering facial and voice biometric capabilities provide increased protection against today’s most sophisticated identity theft and increasingly dangerous fraud techniques, such as deepfakes and synthetic voice augmentation.”

April 21, 2021

On the wires

Boku Partners With French Carriers to Launch Mobile Identity Services in France

Boku Inc., (AIM: BOKU ), the world’s leading provider of mobile payment and identity solutions, and French mobile services providers SFR, Orange and Bouygues Telecom, today announced that they have signed a partnership to launch mobile identity products aimed at protecting consumers against cyber-hacks, account takeover attacks, SIM swap attacks, and other forms of digital fraud.”

November 6, 2020

On the wires

Ten Spanish companies join forces to promote digital identity using blockchain technology

“Ten leading Spanish companies are working together to develop a self-managed digital identity model with blockchain technology, which will bring Spain to the fore in this kind of development.  The project, including Banco Santander, Bankia, BME, CaixaBank, Inetum, Liberbank, Línea Directa Aseguradora, Mapfre, Naturgy and Repsol, and also the Alastria consortium, will give users control over their personal data, making digital identity self-managed by each person in a secure and reliable manner a reality.”

September 8, 2020

On the web

Banks Work with Fintechs to Counter ‘Deepfake’ Fraud

Financial Times

“Banks and fintech groups are setting up partnerships to combat the use of doctored video and audio content by fraudsters, as research shows such ‘deepfake’ crimes are the biggest worry among customers. HSBC this week became the latest bank to sign up to a biometric identification system, developed by technology firm Mitek and offered through a partnership with Adobe. It will be introduced by HSBC’s US retail banking operation to check the identities of new customers, using live images and electronic signatures. Chase, ABN Amro, Caixa Bank, Mastercard and Anna Money are among those that have incorporated Mitek’s biometric checks.”

July 29, 2020

On the web

Germany to Begin Rollout of Open National Digital Identity Service ‘Later This Year’

NFC World

“German consumers with a Galaxy S20 mobile phone will be the first to be able to use a new government-backed service that allows citizens to securely store their national ID on an embedded secure element in their smartphone, Samsung has announced. The smartphone maker is working with the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Bundesdruckerei and Deutsche Telekom Security “to develop a hardware-based security architecture that allows citizens to securely store their National ID on their smartphone as an eID,” the company says.”

March 31, 2020

On the web

This Startup Is Helping Local Stores ID Customers During COVID-19

Street Fight

“Pure play ecommerce outlets have spent years developing systems to manage transactions and verify customer identities, but most retailers on Main Street are accustomed to seeing shoppers in person and visually checking IDs. A San Francisco-based startup called Persona is offering to help those local businesses adapt by giving away its online ID verification service for free during the COVID-19 crisis.”

February 24, 2020

On the web

Credit Union Provider CULedger Goes Live With Blockchain Identity

Ledger Insights

“Initially launched as a blockchain consortium of U.S. credit unions, CULedger later became a credit union service organization (CUSO). Last year, the firm raised $10 million in Series A funding.  MemberPass is the rebranded version of CULedger’s flagship product MyCUID , the KYC-backed digital identity solution. It enables members to control their identity and securely verify themselves with their credit unions.”

February 11, 2020

On the wires

Kount Unveils Identity Trust Global Network With New Adaptive AI Technology, Largest Data Network of Trust and Fraud Signals, and User Experience Engine

Kount , the leading AI-driven fraud prevention solution, today unveiled its Identity Trust Global Network, flipping the script on fraud management from just blocking bad transactions to empowering organizations to unlock previously untapped revenue streams through delivering personalized user experiences. Identity Trust is the ability to establish a real-time level of trust for each identity behind every interaction, including payments, account creation, and login events.”

January 15, 2020

On the web

IDology’s ExpectID to Offer Integrated Global Capabilities, Enabling Secure and Frictionless Identity Verification Across Borders

prnewswire

IDology , a GBG company, today announced that its ExpectID solution will incorporate additional countries from North America, South America and Europe. By internationalizing the leading identity verification platform, multi-national organizations will be able to verify and authenticate more customers safely, in real time and without friction.  ExpectID uses an innovative, multi-layered process to access thousands of data sources containing billions of public records to instantly verify an identity, while also providing predictive, intelligent information around that identity. The integration of international data enables companies to leverage one vendor with one service gateway to onboard and authenticate customers from multiple countries and with easier reporting to more effectively stay on top of fraud trends.”

December 16, 2019

On the web

CULedger Completes Blockchain Identity Pilot With Three US Credit Unions

FinTech Futures

“CULedger claims that MyCUID users can verify their identity by using a biometric function on their smart phone, such as voice, fingerprint or facial recognition. The vendor says that data from its pilot indicated that the average time to verify a member’s identity had been reduced from the industry average of more than 50 seconds to ten or less. “As financial cooperatives, credit unions are more inclined to work together than their bank counterparts in order to best serve their members’ needs,” said John Ainsworth, president and CEO of CULedger.”

December 11, 2019

On the wires

Mastercard Brings Digital Identity to Real World Tests

“The pilot program will test a new way for people to prove their identity without having to carry multiple documents. Instead, the model allows the data to sit with its rightful owner – the user. It will activate a distributed model that blends information stored on an individual’s mobile device and verified by additional reference points, such as an individual’s bank or participating government agencies . It eliminates the need for a centralized identity database.”

November 14, 2019

On the web

Colorado Driver’s Licenses Go Digital

Wall Street Journal

“Colorado residents who download a special app can use their phones as a form of ID in places like bars, restaurants and banks, but it is up to the establishments to decide whether they accept the new format. Rolled out late last month, the technology that digitizes driver’s licenses or state IDs is part of an effort led by Theresa Szczurek, the state’s chief information officer, to modernize the way services are delivered.”

October 28, 2019

September 4, 2019

Top Post

August 29, 2019

On the web

“The modification to point-of-sale software blocks each Juul purchase until the shopper’s driver’s license or other government identification has been scanned. It also limits each purchase to a maximum of one vaporizer and four refill packs. So far, Juul said, Cumberland Farms Inc., QuikTrip Corp. and other chains representing 40,000 outlets have agreed to adopt the system.”

May 23, 2019

On the wires

Mastercard Expands Digital Identity Commitment with Samsung Electronics

“Ajay Bhalla, president of cyber & intelligence at Mastercard, said: “Our digital and physical lives are merging and we need a digital identity solution that reflects this reality. Without control over how their data is used, people rely on outdated systems that can compromise their security. Our collaboration with Samsung advances a digital identity solution that is bound to a trusted device – the mobile phone – which is used by millions of people every day.” People will soon be able to access a digital identity capability on their devices for interactions in both the physical and digital worlds. This will provide consumers with a more efficient way to interact with businesses and service providers, whether opening a bank account, accessing e-mail and social media, video streaming or shopping online.”

May 13, 2019

On the web

Microsoft Launches Decentralized Identity Tool on Bitcoin Blockchain

CoinDesk

“The open source project, called Ion , deals with the underlying mechanics of how networks talk to each other. For example, if you log onto Airbnb using Facebook, a protocol deals with the software that sends the personal information from your social profile to that external service provider. In this case, Ion handles the decentralized identifiers, which control the ability to prove you own the keys to this data. Christopher Allen, a crypto veteran and the co-founder of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) working group for decentralized identity (DID) solutions , told CoinDesk that Microsoft’s move could impact the entire tech industry.”

May 1, 2019

On the web

Canada’s ‘Big 5’ Banks Launch Blockchain-based Digital Identity Service With SecureKey

IT World Canada

“A blockchain-based digital identity network designed by Toronto-based SecureKey Technologies Inc. and supported by the top banks in Canada announced its official launch on Wednesday. Dubbed Verified.Me, the service has been a long time in the making and was originally slated for a release last Fall. Available via a web portal and a mobile app, it promises consumers a way to control their personal information: who it gets shared with, what they use it for, and what they can do with it. It also provides access to financial services in a way that makes it easy to prove you are who you say you are.”

April 8, 2019

On the web

The Secret Trust Scores Companies Use to Judge Us All

Wall Street Journal (paywall)

“When you’re logging in to a Starbucks account, booking an Airbnb or making a reservation on OpenTable, loads of information about you is crunched instantly into a single score, then evaluated along with other personal data to determine if you’re a malicious bot or potentially risky human. Often, that’s done by a service called Sift, which is used by startups and established companies alike, including Instacart and LinkedIn, to help guard against credit-card and other forms of fraud. More than 16,000 signals inform the “Sift score,” a rating of 1 to 100, used to flag devices, credit cards and accounts owned by any entities—human or otherwise—that a company might want to block. This score is like a credit score, but for overall trustworthiness, says a company spokeswoman.”

April 3, 2019

On the web

April 2, 2019

On the web

PayPal Targets Identity Ownership With Its First Blockchain Investment

Forbes

“PayPal has joined a Series A investment in Cambridge Blockchain, a startup working to give individuals a way to own their own online identities without the need of middlemen like Facebook, much the way bitcoin lets its users store value without a bank. As part of the investment, PayPal’s first in blockchain, the company is exploring how it might use Cambridge Blockchain’s platform to let its users prove who they are while still preventing personal information from being unnecessarily shared.”

Johns Hopkins University Rolls Out Support for IOS and Android Campus Cards

NFC World

“Johns Hopkins University (JHU) has become the fifth university in the US to enable its students to load their campus card onto their iPhone or Apple Watch. Those with an Android NFC phone are also able to take advantage of the university’s new mobile credential service. Students, as well as JHU faculty and staff members, can add their J-Card identity card to the app and use their iPhone, Apple Watch or Android phone to gain access to buildings and services or to pay for food. The J-Card Mobile Credential works as part of the eAccounts Mobile app developed by Blackboard.”

March 26, 2019

On the wires

Mastercard Introduces Consumer-Centric Model for Digital ID

Mastercard

Mastercard (NYSE: MA) today introduced a vision for digital identity in today’s increasingly connected world.  A new paper, Restoring Trust in a Digital World , presents a detailed framework of how digital identity will work, starting with the individual sitting at the heart of every digital interaction. Guiding this model are Mastercard’s Principles of Digital Identity that will underpin the system.  These principles focus on data rights and ownership, confidentiality, consent, transparency, security and inclusion.  They amount to a fundamental individual right: “I own my identity and I control my identity data.””

March 8, 2019

On the web

Google Is Working on Securely Storing Digital Driver’s Licenses in Android

xda-developers

“There are downsides to the digital driver’s license, though. You have a lot of control over who gets to see your physical ID, but you have less control over who or what has access to its digitized form. You can password or PIN-protect your phone or the app that pulls up your mobile license, but there’s always a chance that your phone and all its data could become compromised. Plus, you have to make sure your phone has enough juice to keep Android running so you can pull up the license. With the IdentityCredential API, Google is working to solve both of these problems. In a future version of Android, perhaps Android R, devices with the right hardware will be able to securely store identification cards, especially digital driver’s licenses, and even access them when the device doesn’t have enough power to boot Android.”

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