United States
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is increasing the types of credentials that US federal government will accept from employees and contractors to include digital identity for remote processes. It is the first update of the rules since 2013.
NIST has been looking at ways to expand beyond the personal ID verification, or PIV card. The PIV card remains in place, but it is an inadequate tool when so many people working for the government use mobile devices and log into cloud apps that do not use public-key infrastructure.
Now agency officials can opt for multifactor authentication with Fast ID Online (FIDO) tokens and one-time passwords. The newly acceptable ID-verification tools have been listed in NIST SP 800-63-3. Further NIST publications on topics associated with the new FIPS 201-3, like federated digital identity, are planned for the months ahead.
The updated PIV specification document addresses the use of biometrics in background investigations, the issuance of PIV cards (which include face and fingerprint biometrics, with an option for iris biometrics), and comparisons against databases maintained by the FBI.
Global
Eight countries have jointly proposed a set of “high-level principles” in the hope they can enable future mutual recognition and interoperability of digital identities.
The countries came together to form the digital identity working group (DIWG) in 2020 to discuss how to make digital identity a key component of the global digital trade and travel ecosystem. The set of principles is the group’s first set of publicly released work since inception, reports ZDNet.
Chaired by Australia’s Digital Transformation Agency, the working group’s other members are from Canada, Finland, Israel, New Zealand, Singapore, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
There are 11 principles in total, all contained in a report [PDF] about digital identity in a COVID-19 environment, that the DIWG envisions would be used by all governments when building digital identity frameworks.
The principles are openness, transparency, reusability, user-centricity, inclusion and accessibility, multilingualism, security and privacy, technology neutrality and data portability, administrative simplicity, preservation of information, and effectiveness and efficiency.
Global
Yahoo has debuted its Next-Gen Solutions programme, an advanced contextual targeted solution to address omnichannel targeting and buying and look towards “the future of identity”.
It says it will address non-addressable inventory in the Yahoo DSP, and will combine with Yahoo’s cookieless identity solution, Yahoo ConnectID, in order to work.
PYMNTS.com notes that Yahoo first rolled out Next-Gen Solutions last summer, which allowed for audience reach and monetising independent of mobile app IDs. Now it’s available across the web for companies working with Yahoo ConnectID.
United Kingdom
Professional services firm Deloitte has been picked to deliver a new multimillion-pound smartphone app that will allow citizens to prove their identity to access government services.
The technology will integrate with the wider One Login programme, the aim of which is to provide a single cross-government system offering citizens access to a range of services delivered across departments. For the first time, this will include a dedicated GOV.UK app, intended to offer a “one-stop shop” through which users can access hundreds of services.
To support the login system, Deloitte has been retained to deliver a “native mobile app” that can be used to digitally verify users’ identity.
The firm has secured a £4.8m contract that came into effect on 10 February and will last for two years. Over the course of the engagement, the company will be expected to “rapidly onboard resources to meet outcome deliverables” set out in individual statements of work to be issued periodically by the Government Digital Service, which is leading the One Login scheme.
Singapore
Thales is working with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) to drive local development of digital technologies for the Inflight Entertainment, 5G, Biometrics and FinTech sectors.
The Group will situate its Cloud Centre of Excellence (CCoE) for InFlyt Experience in Singapore, co-located at the Thales Digital Factory, creating over 30 roles in cloud computing, design and engineering.
Close to 200 digital identity & security engineers will also work on software engineering and development of critical technologies, with local expertise and solutions built from Singapore.
United Kingdom
UK provider of open banking technology Ecospend has partnered with digital identity network, Yoti, to integrate open banking services with its suite of identity solutions including the Yoti digital ID app.
Using Ecospend’s bank account verification technology, consumer identities will soon be verified on the Yoti app using their bank details, which will sit alongside traditional methods of verification such as using a passport, driving licence or birth certificate documents. Ecospend will also provide a ‘pay-by-bank’ service on the Yoti app to accompany traditional card payment solutions, which will help minimise the risk of fraud with details no longer needing to be inputted by consumers.
Yoti will add both open banking attributes and payment capabilities to enhance its suite of products for consumers, business and government clients.
Canada
ATB Ventures, the research and innovation arm of Alberta-based financial institution ATB Financial, is collaborating with the Government of Canada to provide the technology platform to support its National Digital Trust Service proof of concept.
ATB Venture’s blockchain-identity management solution, Oliu and digital credential wallet, Proof, allow businesses and regulators to develop use cases and issue, use, and verify digital credentials in a sandbox environment.
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Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) is leading proof of concept creation for a National Digital Trust Service with businesses, not-for-profits, and regulators, with the goal of making it quicker, easier, and more cost-effective to issue and verify digital credentials.
United Kingdom
A UK nightclub has announced plans to trial digital IDs uploaded to guest’s smartphones.
Tru nightclub in Camberley, Surrey, will allow clubbers with digital IDs created through age verification company 1account’s app until the end of June as part of a government-backed trial into new ways to authorise sales of alcohol.
While nightclubs, bars and pubs typically only accept photo card driving licences, passports and PASS identification cards as proof of age and identification, the Home Office is running a “sandbox” trial to test new technological methods of selling alcohol.
1account’s system requires users to upload an image of an existing driving licence, passport or PASS card to its app and take a selfie, mapping the features on both images of their face to ensure a match and that the original document is not a fake.
If successful, it generates a verified digital ID declaring the holder to be over 18 which will be scanned by a QR reader and accepted for entry into Tru throughout the trial.
United States
AuthenticID has announced a new, cross-product strategic biometrics partnership with 1Kosmos. As part of the collaboration, the companies will jointly offer a suite of digital identity proofing and authentication solutions for governments, corporations, and individuals.
“This partnership provides customers with integrated end-to-end identity verification and proofing on a global basis,” says 1Kosmos CEO Hemen Vimadalal.
According to the executive, the joint 1Kosmos and AuthenticID solution meets the major regulations and has received “every major market certification,” including FIDO Alliance, NIST 800-63-3 IAL-2/AAL-2, iBeta Biometric PAD-2 Liveness, GDPR, and SOC-2.
The new digital ID suite is aimed at accelerating customer onboarding, reducing costs associated with manual document reviews, and delivering a quick and convenient customer experience across several applications.
Jamaica
Jamaican Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen says the introduction of the digital ID cards is part of the country’s digital transformation efforts which seek to create a unique and trusted ID to enable citizens have access to services.
According to Allen, the rollout of the ID which has been made almost unavoidable by the pandemic, will be done when the country celebrates its 60th independence anniversary.
“This is a critical milestone in our digital transformation. In this our 60th year, we will pass the associated regulations for the Act and issue our first National Identification cards,” he said.
Cambodia
Identity documents such as birth certificates, identity cards and passports in Cambodia will soon be issued in digital format to enable citizens have access to a broader range of services.
Deputy director of the General Department of Identification in the Ministry of Interior, Lieutenant General Top Neth, has reportedly said that the digital ID system called ‘Integrated Population Identification System’, which falls in line with the country’s 10-year national strategic plan on identification (2017-2026), will entail the collection of biometrics that will be encrypted and securely stored in a database.
Neth also disclosed that the country has issued about 2.2 million passports and about 11.5 million national ID cards since 2014. He called on citizens who do not have the ID cards to apply for one.
Bangladesh
The Bangladeshi government says it wants to issue IDs and smart cards to farmers.
According to reports, the digital ID system for farmers will facilitate provision of services on demand as well as the sharing of eligibility data through digital analysis and management.
Expected to be implemented by September 2024, Bangladeshi authorities say the project will cost a total Tk 1.1 billion (US$12.6 million) and will involve nearly 20 million farmers.
The digitised cards are also expected to help tackle some of the problems that frequently crop up when banks disburse incentives to farmers, such as lost legacy ID cards.
Nepal
IDs will no longer be required for COVID jabs in Nepal.
The country’s Ministry of Health and Population says the move is to allow many more people, who hitherto were prevented from coming forward, to now take the COVID jab without restrictions.
Biometric Update says that prior to the decision, which was taken at a recent ministerial meeting, all citizens above 17 years of age had to present either their government-issued ID card, citizenship certificate, passport or voter’s card to be able to have a vaccine, while students below 17 were required to present their school IDs, per the report.
Nepal is reportedly looking to vaccinate 26 million eligible citizens, and so far, 16.3 million are said to be fully vaccinated against the virus.
