Macau
Veridos is delivering the new Macau Electronic ID (MEID) to the Macau Special Administrative Region and implementing a new centralised personalisation as well as a new Card Application Management System (CAMS). For the first time, the ID cards will include the Lumen ID Echo security feature, which integrates an enhanced CLIP ID color photo in the window area of the ID card.
The upgrade of this project, which has been in place since 2002, has been carried out in cooperation between Veridos and the DSI (Direcção dos Serviços de Identificação) of the Macau Government, and includes the supply of fully contactless ID cards with a sophisticated UV-design and the latest generation of security features, according to a release.
The Macau government will be the first in the world to use Lumen ID Echo. This is a secondary color image of the cardholder integrated into the transparent window of the document, in addition to the first classic black and white image (primary image). Lumen ID Echo is the next generation of Veridos’ secure color photo technology named CLIP ID, which has already been contracted and deployed by various governments worldwide.
The new Macau Electronic ID, based on Veridos’ new Common Criteria certified JavaCard chip operating system platform Smartcafé Expert 8.0, implements biometric identification, includes a signature function and opens the doors to various online government services for Macau citizens.
United States
ID.me has now verified 50 million for the federal standards for consumer authentication, NIST Identity Assurance Level 2.
Once users have created an ID.me login and verified their identity, they are fast-tracked to access services across hundreds of government, private sector, and non-profit organisations. Similar to payment wallets, ID.me’s identity wallet allows registered users to login and consent to release their previously verified identity to access services at multiple agencies. This approach, it said, dramatically reduces user friction while providing important security benefits.
United States
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has announced the launch of Track 3 of the Remote Identity Validation Technology Demonstration (RIVTD).
Held in partnership with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Homeland Security Investigations Forensic Laboratory and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), RIVTD is a series of technology challenges to evaluate the ability of systems to authenticate identity documents, assess the ‘liveness’ of selfie photos and evaluate identity verification using images taken with smartphones and similar devices.
“Since announcing the Remote Identity Technology Validation Tech Demo, we have garnered a tremendous response from diverse stakeholders,” said Arun Vemury, S&T senior engineering advisor for identity technologies. “The emergence of new, powerful, widely accessible technologies underscores the importance of facilitating the development and evaluation of tools to combat fraud.”
United States
Digital identity firm Incognia has raised $31 million in new funding to support platform development and expand into new vertical industries, including consumer internet, financial services and e-commerce.
Founded in 2014, Icognia offers digital identity solutions that deliver user verification and account security across the digital journey. The company’s tech combines device fingerprinting and exact location intelligence data into one risk signal that can be customised for every stage of the user journey.
The company’s service is designed to solve critical fraud and authentication challenges in industries such as food delivery, ride-hailing, person-to-person marketplaces and financial services.
Australia
The Australian payments industry wants digital ID laws to permit racial markers, according to reports.
A ban on the use of racial identifiers in Australia’s new digital identity scheme should be diluted so the nation’s domestic payments platform, backed by the Big Four banks and major supermarkets, can sell proof-of-Aboriginality products into Indigenous communities, reports The Mandarin.
The draft legislation, released late last year, contains a series of outright bans on the collection of sensitive data, including race, religion, political and philosophical opinions, political membership and sexuality.
Germany
Starting in May 2025, German authorities will accept only biometric photographs for official documents, including IDs, passports and immigration documents.
The move comes after a successful 2023 pilot to enhance document security, according to EU Reporter.
The German Ministry of Interior says that biometric photos will speed up the identification of document holders.
“Citizens should be spared inconveniences, especially during border controls,” the Ministry says. “The capture of biometric data and the unequivocal identification of the applicant are therefore a central part of applying for an identification document from the local authorities.”
The biometric photos will also fight against photo manipulations such as morphing, the process of blending the images of two faces, German media reports.
