Japan
The Japanese government plans to allow people obtaining their government-issued ID card, My Number, to show digital student IDs and employee IDs as valid identification documents when receiving the cards.
The move is aimed at broadening the scope of acceptable IDs to encourage students and workers to sign up for the cards.
The My Number system is a government-issued ID with a 12-digit number linking individuals to personal information, including on taxes and social security. My Number cards, which the government began issuing in 2016, can be used as identity verification to receive a wide range of services, including opening an account at a bank or getting a passport. The cards can also be used as health insurance cards.
While participation in the My Number system is obligatory, obtaining the card itself is voluntary. As of April 7, roughly 98.77 million My Number cards have been issued, equivalent to approximately 78.8 percent of Japan’s population, reports Japan Times.
Nigeria
The National Identity Management Commission of Nigeria (NIMC) has clarified that only one new digital ID card with multiple functions will be introduced in the coming days.
The statement comes after the NIMC announced the introduction of the card in a statement early this month, which sparked some confusion. The announcement had led to various interpretations, including that the agency was planning to introduce three different cards.
Now, the government has reassured Nigerians that “the new National ID Card is a single, convenient, and General multipurpose card (GMPC) eliminating the need for multiple cards—not three,” reports Biometric Update.
United Kingdom
Companies House, the UK’s business registry, has begun rolling out new tools to fight fraud and help cleanse the register of fraudulent accounts, according to a government release.
The first measures to come into force under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCT Act) give Companies House more power to query information and request supporting evidence, stronger checks on company names, a requirement for all companies to supply a registered email address, and the ability to share data with other government departments and law enforcement agencies, among other tools.
Global
Prove Identity has announced that its digital customer experience, identity verification, and identity authentication solutions are now available in AWS Marketplace, a digital catalogue with thousands of software listings from independent software vendors (ISVs) that make it easy to find, test, buy, and deploy software that runs on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Prove is also a member of the AWS ISV Accelerate Program, allowing it to streamline the delivery, billing, and procurement of their identity solutions.
Europe
Identity verification provider IDnow has launched VideoIdent Flex, a new version of its video verification service that blends advanced AI technology with human interaction. The human-based video call solution, supported by AI, has been designed and built to boost customer conversion rates, reduce rising fraud attempts, increase inclusivity, and tackle an array of complex online verification scenarios.
Europe
Meanwhile, Signicat has announced the launch of InstantKYC and InstantKYB, solutions that comply with local AML regulations, making it easier for companies to expand easily in other countries.
InstantKYC onboards individuals compliantly by establishing their identities and subsequently performing required checks depending on the country. InstantKYB verifies vital organisation information such as organisation identification number, name, address, legal representatives, controllers and UBOs and performs a basic screening or a full KYC check on them, to ensure it is safe to do business with them.
Channel Islands
Provider of regulatory technology solutions Tiller Technologies is rolling out a digital identity verification solution aimed at streamlining the onboarding process for international customers.
The rollout follows a recent consultation undertaken by the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC), focused on the adoption of digital identity verification systems amongst financial services institutions, and aligns with the obligations set out in Section 4 of the JFSC handbook to obtain evidence of where a customer lives.
Tiller is working with HSBC Expat to support address verification for the Bank’s international customers, supporting its ambition to deliver digital frictionless onboarding for customers across multiple jurisdictions worldwide, whilst at the same time ensuring compliance with global regulatory standards.
Costa Rica
By the end of 2025, Costa Ricans will have the option to store a digital ID in a digital wallet on their smartphones in place of its physical counterpart, according to the Costa Rican Times.
To obtain a digital ID, users will go to a platform hosted by Costa Rica’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE). The only requirements to sign up are that a user’s biometrics are up to date with the TSE and they’ve received a physical ID at least once. After paying a fee of 2,600 Costa Rican Colones (about US$4), users receive a link to download a digital wallet app where their digital ID can be downloaded and securely stored.
The TSE uses the same modalities as are collected on Costa Rican ID cards and the national registry, fingerprint and face biometrics.
A procurement process is already underway to find a provider. At the end of March, Costa Rica committed to collaborating with KOMSCO, an ID card and passport producer that recently introduced the K-DID mobile ID system, at least on a consultancy basis.
Japan
Fujitsu is developing a new technology to enable Japanese companies to more easily participate in European Data Spaces, which form a digital framework for cross-company data sharing across different industries.
Fujitsu has created and verified a way to convert corporate credentials created using OpenID Connect (OIDC), a widely used authentication mechanism in Japan and around the world, into Verifiable Credentials (VC). Using this implementation, Fujitsu confirmed successful connection to a data space built using Tractus-X in a scenario where a Japanese company using gBizID authentication connects to a European data space, a world first.
When a Japanese company connects to a data space using VCs, the technology converts authentication information into VCs if the company is certified as authentic by a corporate credential issuing organization for Japanese companies. The converted VC can be presented to the European data space to complete the company verification and to connect to the data space. Once connected, data providers and data consumers in the data space can exchange VCs and data after verifying each other’s authenticity.
United Kingdom
The UK Home Office is to invite those with physical immigration documents to create a biometric eVisa via email as part of the government’s plan to introduce a digital immigration system, with the goal of implementing eVisas for almost all visa holders in the country by 2025.
The Home Office will send emails to those with physical immigration documents called biometric residence permits (BRPs), inviting them to make a UK Visas and Immigration account in order to access their digital visa. Users will be able to update their information associated with the document more easily.
The process, which is free for physical document holders, will be available to all permit holders in the summer of 2024. Most BRPs will expire by the end of 2024, and all physical immigration documents will be phased out by 2025. Until they expire, the Home Office says that customers should keep carrying their physical documents as they travel internationally.
Australia
Consulting firm EY has won a $10.7 million Australian contract to build a digital ID register that will act as the foundation for Australian Government’s Digital ID System (AGDIS). The contract was awarded under a “select sourcing” tender process that was initiated at the end of 2023, according to Innovation Aus.
The firm is now tasked with developing a platform that will include a register of accredited entities, portals for participants and staff, and an API for digital ID management.
The register is scheduled to be delivered at the end of the year, though the government wants to start the expansion of digital identity in July at the earliest.
United Kingdom
The number of people verifying their identity using the Gov.uk One Login service has increased over the past eight months, according to government figures.
Answering a series of parliamentary questions from Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth, Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart revealed that on average, more than 200,000 people verify their identity using the Gov.uk One Login app each month, with January 2024 seeing a whopping 342,315 people successfully verifying their identity on the app, reports Computer Weekly.
In total, as of March 2024, more than 3.8 million people have successfully verified their identity on the app, which currently stands at around five million downloads.
However, the number of users who prefer to verify their identity in person has also increased. In 2023, the government signed a partnership with the Post Office for a face-to-face service run by postmasters, where those who cannot, or do not want to, use the One Login app or website to verify their identity can do so at their local Post Office branch.
In August 2023, only 154 people chose to use the face-to-face service, while in February 2024, more than 2,000 chose to do so. In total, more than 8,500 people have gone to their local Post Office to verify their identity.
Europe
Digital trust provider DigiCert announced it will partner with Deutsche Telekom to improve its digital certificates and identity and access management (IAM) for its European customers.
By leveraging DigiCert, Deutsche Telekom aims to address requirements for public key infrastructure (PKI) and IAM as well as digital certificates and hardware security for a variety of devices, including smartphones and computers.
PKI is widely used in identity verification and related applications, such as by ICAO, and has been proposed for interoperable age assurance. Digital certificates are widely used in IAM applications for authenticating claims or data.
