Global
The OpenID Foundation has named Kantara Initiative as an Authorized Auditor under its independent conformance testing programme, formalising a new role for the identity trust body in oversight of OpenID testing services.
Under the arrangement, Kantara will assess organisations applying to become Approved Testing Service Providers, the independent entities responsible for running conformance tests against OpenID specifications. The move strengthens governance around conformance testing as digital identity deployments continue to scale across multiple sectors and jurisdictions.
United Kingdom
The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes is introducing a new trust mark, UK CertifID, intended to make it easier for users to identify secure, government-approved digital verification services.
The mark will be available to providers certified against the government’s trust framework and listed on the official register. OfDIA says the aim is to provide a recognisable signal of trust for users who may not engage with technical certification details but want reassurance that a service is secure, privacy-preserving and convenient.
The trust mark will include both a logo and a unique identifying number, allowing users to check authenticity against the digital verification services register. Further rollout details are expected once practical guidance is finalised.
United Kingdom
New polling published by the Tony Blair Institute suggests more people in the UK support the introduction of digital IDs than oppose them.
The survey found 43 percent in favour and 37 percent against, with around a fifth undecided. While support appears to have dipped slightly compared with earlier polling, the institute argues the findings challenge claims that the public is overwhelmingly opposed to digital identity.
The pro-digital ID think tank also says support rises when undecided respondents are shown credible use cases, reinforcing the importance of practical service benefits in shaping public opinion.
Niger
Niger has officially launched a new biometric national identity card as part of a wider effort to modernise identification systems and strengthen digital sovereignty within the Alliance of Sahel States.
The new credential captures biometric attributes including fingerprints, facial images and electronic signatures, with officials saying it will support more reliable identification, faster access to services and lower identity-related fraud. The project also includes development of secure national data infrastructure, including a modern data centre.
The rollout forms part of a broader digital transformation strategy under the AES bloc and is accompanied by a monitoring committee overseeing biometric ID cards and electronic passports, which are also nearing completion.
Global
KeyData Cyber has launched Identity Command Center, a platform developed by BeyondID to help organisations manage and track identity security programmes.
The platform is designed to give security leaders a centralised view of identity maturity, programme health and strategic priorities across long-term identity initiatives involving multiple teams and technologies. KeyData says the tool is intended to help organisations monitor progress, identify emerging risks and prioritise remediation work more effectively.
The company is positioning the platform as a response to the growing complexity of identity as a core control plane in modern cybersecurity.
Europe
IDnow and Trustfull have partnered to link identity verification with ongoing risk checks across the customer lifecycle.
The companies say many organisations still rely too heavily on one-off onboarding checks, even though fraud risks often emerge later during authentication and account use. Their joint model combines identity verification with behavioural and digital intelligence signals such as email, phone, device, IP and browser data, enabling more continuous, risk-based decisions.
IDnow says the approach is intended to help firms move beyond static KYC towards broader fraud prevention and compliance across changing regulatory frameworks.
United States
Brazilian digital identity firm Unico has opened a new global headquarters in Silicon Valley, marking a major step in its international expansion.
The company says the move follows acquisitions in Mexico, the UAE and the United States that added liveness detection, anti-spoofing and passkey-related capabilities to its platform. Unico is positioning itself as a provider of high-assurance identity validation as global concern grows over synthetic identities and AI-driven fraud.
The relocation signals a push to compete more directly in the US and broader international enterprise market.
Ireland
Ireland’s Digital Identity Wallet is expected to be available by the end of this year, with private sector use cases such as social media age verification potentially following by the end of 2027.
The government says the wallet is needed to meet Ireland’s legal obligations under the European Digital Identity framework, with public-service access due by the end of 2026 and private-service access by the end of 2027. Banks and credit institutions will be required to accept the wallet for identity verification from next year.
Ministers have also indicated that social media companies could be asked to use the wallet for age verification, signalling broader ambitions beyond administrative public-sector use.
Denmark
Two Danish government agencies have issued a joint tender for biometric enrolment services supporting immigration and international recruitment processing.
The procurement, led by the Agency for International Recruitment and Integration together with the Danish Immigration Service, covers biometric capture services such as fingerprints and facial images used in work permit, residence, asylum and family reunification processes. The move reflects continuing investment in biometric-based migration management within Denmark’s role in the wider Schengen border and immigration framework.
The deadline for submissions is 24 April 2026.
Global
Ditto has launched as a privacy-first digital identity platform focused on bringing cryptographic assurance to customer identity and access management.
Formerly known as Uniken, the company says the new platform is designed for an environment shaped by stronger privacy expectations, reusable credentials and decentralised identity frameworks. Ditto is positioning itself as a bridge between traditional centralised identity systems and newer wallet-based models, using cryptographic proof and zero-knowledge techniques to reduce reliance on exposing personal data during authentication and verification.
The company says its approach is intended to turn identity from a compliance burden into a trust layer for digital services.
Spain
Spain’s digital national identity document has become a legally valid substitute for the physical card for face-to-face identification.
From 2 April 2026, public administrations and private organisations that require identification must accept the MiDNI mobile app in in-person settings. The app connects to National Police servers in real time and returns digitally signed identity data, allowing citizens to present different levels of information depending on the context, from full identity to simple age confirmation.
The digital credential supports a range of domestic in-person use cases including hotel check-ins, car rentals, administrative procedures and some financial transactions, though it does not yet support online authentication, electronic signatures or international travel.
Ethiopia
Ethio Telecom has launched teleSign, a national digital signature and identity verification platform that allows citizens and members of the diaspora to authenticate legal documents and access services remotely.
Developed with several government ministries and agencies, the platform supports functions such as granting power of attorney, authenticating legal documents and obtaining or renewing professional licences without needing to visit an embassy or government office. The system uses AI-powered video identity verification with liveness detection and is integrated with Fayda, Ethiopia’s national digital ID system.
Officials are positioning teleSign as a core component of the country’s Digital Ethiopia 2030 strategy.
United States
The US Government Accountability Office has found that current Office of Management and Budget guidance on federal AI use does not adequately address privacy risks, including those linked to biometric and identity verification systems.
The report identifies 10 major privacy-related challenges and says current OMB guidance fully addresses only two of them. Among the gaps cited are limited direction on auditing AI systems that process sensitive data, insufficient separation of sensitive information from training datasets, and weak standards for transparency and consent.
The findings are significant as federal agencies expand use of AI in identity verification and digital service delivery, adding to broader scrutiny of biometric and AI programmes across government.
United States
The Department of Homeland Security’s Remote Identity Validation Rally has completed smartphone-based evaluations of selfie-to-document matching and liveness detection, establishing benchmarks relevant to mobile identity verification.
In tests using consumer devices including the iPhone 14, Google Pixel 7 and Samsung Galaxy S22, five vendors met DHS high-performance goals for selfie-to-document matching. Several vendors have since identified themselves publicly, with Paravision reporting particularly strong results on look-alike fraud scenarios.
Aware has also published results from the rally’s liveness track, saying its Intelligent Liveness product blocked all tested attacks in active liveness evaluations while also scoring strongly on processing speed and user satisfaction.
The use of ordinary smartphones rather than laboratory capture equipment makes the results especially relevant to real-world mobile verification deployments.
Mexico
Mexico is accelerating rollout of its biometric national identity system as enrolment for the CURP Biométrica expands and a July 2026 deadline approaches for linking all SIM cards to the credential.
The new biometric CURP adds fingerprints, iris scans, facial data and a digital signature to the country’s existing population registry credential, effectively creating a mobile-readable biometric identity document. The most consequential enforcement mechanism is the requirement that all mobile lines be linked to a biometric CURP, making enrolment effectively unavoidable for many citizens despite official statements that the credential itself remains optional.
The policy creates a direct integration point between identity infrastructure and telecommunications on a national scale.
Zambia
Zambia’s Smart Zambia Institute is seeking an international system integrator to deploy and customise a MOSIP-based digital identity platform as part of a World Bank-backed digital transformation programme.
The government aims to reach two million citizens initially and 80 percent of the population by the end of 2026, with the platform intended to integrate with civil registration systems and support access to services, financial inclusion and broader digital economy participation. Officials say the project follows a home-grown strategy, with Zambian developers building the core system while external specialists provide supplementary expertise.
The procurement includes identity modules, civil registration infrastructure, backend systems and enrolment kits, with an emphasis on open standards to reduce vendor lock-in.
Portugal
Portugal will allow third-country travellers to pre-register for the EU Entry-Exit System through the Travel to Europe app, becoming the second country after Sweden to offer the Frontex-developed service.
The app will initially be available at Lisbon Airport before expanding to other airports. Developed with support from Inverid and iProov, it allows travellers to enter personal and travel information before arrival and then present a QR code at self-service kiosks.
The move comes just ahead of the full rollout of the EU’s biometric border management system.
St Kitts and Nevis
St Kitts and Nevis has announced that all citizens who obtained nationality through the country’s Citizenship by Investment programme must complete biometric enrolment by 31 July 2027.
The requirement forms part of a wider expansion of the country’s biometric passport system and immigration overhaul. From April 2026, enrolment will begin for CBI citizens, and after the 2027 deadline their passports will no longer remain valid unless the process has been completed.
The move follows growing international scrutiny of so-called “golden passports” and is intended to strengthen trust and border recognition for the country’s travel documents.
Global
MarketsandMarkets forecasts that the global digital identity solutions market will grow from USD 44.20 billion in 2025 to USD 132.14 billion by 2031.
The firm says growth is being driven by the increasing role of AI and machine learning in fraud detection and proactive defence, along with expanding use of biometric authentication across sectors. The BFSI sector is identified as the leading adopter due to its need for strong authentication, fraud prevention and compliance, while the US is highlighted as a major growth market.
