Global
Microsoft is transitioning to passwordless authentication across its services. The company has established a timeline that began with mandatory multifactor authentication (MFA) for the Azure portal, Microsoft Entra admin center, and Microsoft Intune admin center in October 2024.
The transition continues in 2025, with Microsoft removing password autofill capabilities from its Authenticator app in July. The company plans to complete its shift to passwordless authentication through a three-month period beginning in June 2025, during which the password manager will be removed. The change follows Microsoft’s announcement of native passkey support in Microsoft Authenticator, scheduled for implementation in mid-January 2025, according to Mobile ID World.
United Kingdom
World, the biometric identity verification project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is rolling out in the UK.
The venture, which uses a spherical eye-scanning device called the Orb to scan people’s eyes, will become available in London and then several other major U.K. cities, including Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Belfast, and Glasgow, in the coming months.
The project aims to authenticate the identity of humans with its Orb device and prevent the fraudulent abuse of artificial intelligence (AI) systems like deep fakes.
It works by scanning a person’s face and iris and then creating a unique code to verify that the individual is a human and not an AI. Once someone has created their iris code, they are then gifted some of World’s WLD cryptocurrency and can use an anonymous identifier called World ID to sign into various applications. It currently works with the likes of Minecraft, Reddit and Discord, reports CNBC.
Europe
The European Union is implementing significant changes to digital identity management through the EU Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet) initiative, building on the foundation established by the original eIDAS regulation in 2014. The initiative will transform how driver’s licences and other credentials are stored and used across member states.
Digital driver’s licences will benefit from new provisions that prevent rejection solely based on their electronic format. The regulation defines common minimum requirements for qualified electronic attribute certificates, ensuring they carry equivalent legal weight to paper documents.
United States
US president Donald Trump has rolled back digital identity provisions from a Biden administration executive order in a move that experts say could leave the US less secure.
A new executive order amended and struck down several parts of the Biden order deemed “problematic.”
The cyber-focused January executive order, issued at the end of the Biden administration, included directions for new guidance on how agencies can use mobile drivers licences — or mDLs — to verify people online. It also included a push for the Social Security Administration to help other agencies verify people for public benefits, and for the Treasury Department pilot sending notifications to people when their information is used to get government money, giving them a chance to stop the payment if they weren’t behind the request.
A White House fact sheet stated that the new Trump executive order removed “a mandate for U.S. government issued digital IDs for illegal aliens that would have facilitated entitlement fraud and other abuse.”
United Kingdom
SmartSearch, a provider of digital compliance and anti-money laundering (AML) solutions, is partnering with Daon, integrating its biometric identity assurance technology into SmartSearch’s SmartDoc solution. SmartSearch said customers will benefit from faster, more secure, and efficient customer onboarding, enabling them to comply with regulations, and fight financial crime.
South Africa
B2B communications platform VERA has partnered with cheqd, a provider decentralised identity and credential infrastructure, to deliver digital identity and secure messaging for businesses in South Africa and beyond. VERA is conducting a beta launch as of June 1, tailored for South African companies, with a full MVP rollout expected by the end of August 2025.
By integrating cheqd’s advanced decentralised identity infrastructure, including support for Verifiable Credentials (VCs), AnonCreds, and DID-linked resources, VERA will enable trusted interactions at scale.
United Kingdom
The Home Affairs Committee has launched an inquiry into the potential benefits and risks of government-issued digital ID, citing the “growing debate” around digital identity in the UK.
In a press statement, the Home Affairs Committee stated that a digital ID could take the form of government-issued digital documents, such as passports, driving licenses or national insurance numbers, as well as biometrics, such as fingerprints or facial recognition data.
The Government has already unveiled its plans for a digital ‘Gov.UK wallet’, which will allow individuals to access digital versions of government documents, including a new digital driver’s licence led by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
eVisas were recently introduced to allow individuals to prove their immigration status digitally.
While the Government has not yet announced plans for a more comprehensive national digital ID programme, the Home Affairs Committee acknowledged that “several organisations have proposed the introduction of a single national digital ID”, on the basis that it could make it easier to access public services, including the NHS, benefits and tax systems.
The digital ID inquiry will “examine what benefits the introduction of new digital forms of ID could bring for reducing crime and managing migration”, as well as explore privacy and security concerns and the “practical challenges” of realising the potential benefits.
Dame Karen Bradley said that the introduction of digital ID could help the Home Office reduce crime. “But there are also fears that ID schemes could infringe on people’s privacy or be costly to implement effectively,” she said. “The debate around digital ID is growing and we want to find the best evidence for how digital ID could be used by the Home Office to implement its priorities.”
Russia
Russia is introducing a new digital identity “super-app” that will combine messaging, government and private services, e-signatures and digital IDs. The multifunctional app will have to come pre-installed on smartphones, tablets and other devices sold in Russia as of September 1, 2025.
A law on combining functionalities of state, financial and commercial digital services in a single application was adopted by the State Duma, news agency Interfax reports.
The app will allow users to confirm their age at the supermarket cashier or check into a hotel without presenting paper documents, according to State Duma Information Policy Committee Chairman Sergei Boyarsky.
Global
OCR Studio has introduced a new feature for its web-based ID scanner, enabling secure online onboarding directly in the browser through selfie ID verification.
The technology authenticates the user’s face to ensure a live presence, comparing it with the reference image from their ID photo, while keeping images secure from third-party servers. This solution aims to prevent spoofing attacks during the web onboarding process in various environments.
United States
Glider AI has introduced ID Verify, a biometric identity verification solution designed to prevent hiring fraud and address emerging security risks associated with digital recruitment. Integrated into Glider AI’s existing hiring platform, the new tool uses facial recognition and liveness detection to confirm that job candidates are who they claim to be, with the aim of helping organisations guard against deepfakes, synthetic identities, and insider threats.
Sri Lanka / India
The Government of India can release a request for proposals, by the Inter-Government Memorandum of Understanding for the Sri Lanka Unique Digital ID (SL-UDI) project, after the Cabinet in Sri Lanka approves the final set of amendments, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, chief advisor to the President on Digital Economy and chairman of the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) said.
“Then, in the next three to four months, we can anticipate the digital ID sandbox, where our software developers, institutions from the public and private sectors, and the Digital Ecosystem as a whole can experience the power of an open digital ID platform.”
The government plans to begin taking bids for a MOSIP (Modular Open-Source Identity Platform) system integrator before August. However, it added: “As the MOSIP grant is from India, the expression of interest will be for an Indian supplier called by the Indian government,” Waruna Dhanapala, secretary, Ministry of Digitalisation, recently told Biometric Update.
Namibia
The Namibian government has earmarked July 2026 for the rollout of a national digital ID system that aims to streamline access to different public and private sector services in the country.
Speaking about the planned digital ID rollout, the executive director of home affairs, Etienne Maritz, is quoted by Windhoek Observer as explaining that the system will bring major changes to identity management in Namibia and streamline the way government and citizens interact.
He said major impact is also expected to be felt in birth registration, while the digital ID will also serve as an important tool for building a more inclusive and secure digital society.
Nigeria
Nigeria’s National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) says its national digital ID efforts are yielding positive results in the correctional services sector with 74 percent of all prison inmates in the country now having a National Identification Number (NIN).
The NIMC head of corporate communications, Dr Kayode Adegoke noted that the percentage corresponds to 59,786 inmates.
In collaboration with the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), the NIMC said the initiative will continue with the remaining inmates to be enrolled in the months ahead.
United States
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has announced a nationwide initiative that will require stricter identity verification for applicants to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) programme, especially those applying for the first time.
The government claims that fraud rings are exploiting weaknesses in the student aid application process. “When rampant fraud is taking aid away from eligible students, disrupting the operations of colleges, and ripping off taxpayers, we have a responsibility to act,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement.
