United States
The Progressive Policy Institute’s (PPI) new report, Closing the Digital Verification Divide, warns that as “local governments increasingly digitise their services, the existing digital verification divide is becoming a significant barrier for low-income and marginalised Americans.”
The report says there is a “significant digital verification divide that disproportionately affects low-income Americans, rural residents, and marginalised groups, all of whom often lack the documentation required to access digital government services.”
The report says these “individuals often lack the financial and identity documents, such as bank accounts or passports, that are commonly required for digital verification,” and emphasised that without “targeted interventions, these populations may be unable to access critical services like unemployment benefits, tax records, and social security,” as per Biometric Update.
Lithuania
Lithuania-based regtech solution provider iDenfy has entered into a collaborative agreement with Confindo to increase security and manage loan fraud.
iDenfy is set to support Confindo in managing third-party risks and “ensuring optimised fraud and breach prevention procedures whilst creating a simplified and secure verification experience.”
Europe
Software development company deverium, in collaboration with partner Corner Case Technologies, has secured €2 million in EU funding to develop an identity verification product. The aim is to establish a distributed, reusable digital identity platform that targets complex international identity verification challenges.
The company, which has a local presence in Lithuania, the United Kingdom and Sweden, says the new product “aims to address the fact that there is no universally accepted interoperable digital ID solution that works across different countries and is recognised by different governments and organisations.”
United States
The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has set out a draft update to its digital ID guidance for federal government organisations on verifying service users online.
The new draft sets out the fundamental processes for verifying user ID online and offers alternative security methods, such as passkeys to mobile drivers’ licences. Facial recognition was also raised as a possible new feature of digital ID infrastructure.
The agency is currently taking comments on the latest iteration until October 7. Depending on the volume of feedback it receives, NIST’s aim is to produce a final version of the guidance in 2025.
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Spain
Telefonica Tech, the strategic digital business unit of the Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica Group has joined Privado ID as a system integrator according to press material shared with NFTgators.
Privado ID, formerly Polygon ID will leverage Telefonica Tech’s experience in decentralised technology, systems integration and its managed blockchain service TrustOS to develop innovative verifiable credential use cases.
The announcement comes as the European Union prepares to implement the European Digital Identity Regulation (eIDAS2). eIDAS2 mandates that each EU Member State must provide Digital Identity Wallets to its citizens and outlines technical specifications and certification.
The collaboration aims to develop proofs-of-concept for various use cases in digital identity, with one of the first being age verification, which can be used to provide a reliable and secure privacy-complaint mechanism for granting access to adult content and gambling platforms.
France
IDnow has received the security Visa from French Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) recognising the Substantial Level of Assurance (LoA) certification for digital identities for its YRIS digital identity wallet. The LoA is defined by the European eIDAS regulation (electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services) and was certified by the Agence nationale de sécurité des systèmes d’information (ANSSI).
YRIS was first launched in June 2022 and allows the reuse of verified digital identity credentials. It enables users to prove their identity without having to scan a physical ID document and their face each and every time access to a service is needed. It allows all French citizens to create a digital identity based on the old French national ID card, the new national ID card, and the residence permit.
United States
TrustGrid has been selected by AFWERX for a Direct-to-Phase II contract focused on decentralised digital identity and communications to address the most pressing challenges in the Department of the Air Force (DAF).
United Kingdom
Hundreds of independent vape stores across the UK are set to benefit from an AI app that provides automated facial age estimation, removing guesswork from age checks and mitigating the risk of fines that can exceed £1,500.
Action group, Our Vape Advocacy (OVA) has partnered with SafetyTech to offer its UK members the latter’s AgeAI age estimation system. AgeAI is anonymous, with no images transmitted or stored, and GDPR (UK) certified.
