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Identity Verification

What is Identity Verification?​

Identity verification is the process of confirming that someone is who they claim to be. This involves collecting and validating identity information for the person, such as:

  • Name and date of birth
  • Contact information (address, phone number, email address)
  • Identity documents (driver’s license, health card, Social Security Number)

Identity verification can be performed at different levels of assurance (LoA). An LoA represents the trustworthiness of the verification. For example, a user who is verified with multiple identity documents would have a higher LoA, and therefore a much stronger verification, than a user who is verified by simply filling out a form. Users with basic verification are limited in the information they can access, while strongly verified users are allowed access to sensitive information such as government or health data.

IDENTOS is designed to meet identity verification standards and guidelines set by government agencies and organization such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). IDENTOS also supports other verification and eligibility checks, based on your organization’s requirements.

How Does IDENTOS Provide Identity Verification?​

IDENTOS Identity Verification allows digital service providers to safely onboard and verify new users. Identity verification workflows and processes can be built into web or mobile user interfaces which are branded for your organization.

Identity verification involves setting up a customized workflow to gather and verify identifying information and documents from the user. This includes two main steps:

  • The individual provides identity information and identity documents.
  • This information is verified by a customer service agent and/or is checked against an authoritative database.

These steps can be implemented in a variety of ways, depending on your organization’s requirements.

1. Individual Provides Identity Information​

You decide what identity information an individual is required to provide to (a) create a digital account and (b) gain access to different types of information.

For example, a basic verification might require an individual to fill out a form. This would typically give the user access to public information only.

A stronger verification might require an individual to provide pictures of the front and back of two identity documents (e.g. driver’s license and health card) and also record a selfie video as a liveness check. This might give the user access to protected information, such as their health records.

In both cases, the individual could provide the information via a digital application (such as a website, portal, or mobile application), in-person with a customer service agent, or a combination of these methods. For example, an individual might first meet with a customer service agent to complete the identity verification process, then create a pre-verified online account. Or, conversely, an individual might create a basic online account first, then meet with an agent to complete identity verification and verify their account.

2. Identity Information is Verified​

Once the identity information is received, it must be verified.

Verification usually involves a human reviewer. This allows for more complex review flows and a wider range of identity documents. Reviewers can assess supporting documents that would be difficult for a fully automated process to verify, such as an energy bill.

A typical review process involves a custom workflow where a customer service agent reviews the information provided by the user and answers a series of questions in order to determine the individual’s verification level. For example, the agent might be asked to confirm whether an identity document appears to be genuine and if data entered by the user matches the information on the identity document.

Verification may also involve checking the user’s identity documents against an authoritative database. IDENTOS can be linked to authoritative databases in order to submit documents for verification. For example, a driver’s license would be verified against the appropriate government transportation database.

3. Verification Stages​

A verification flow can include stages that allow an individual to increase their verification level. The flow might allow an individual to start with a basic verification, then allow them to provide further identity documents to strengthen their verification.

For example, let’s assume John Smith has created an account on a health portal using basic verification (e.g. providing contact information and creating a username/password for the portal). With this account, John is only able to access public documents, such as a list of vaccination clinics. However, if John increases his verification level by submitting identity documents, such as his health card, he will be able to access private information such as his medical history.

4. Reverification​

IDENTOS also supports reverification of users after a specified period of time, such as one year or five years. A different reverification workflow is typically used to confirm and revalidate users.