Company News

Credas Certified as Digital Identity Provider For UK

Identity verification company Credas Technologies has been certified to perform digital identity verification for the Right to Work, Right to Rent and anti-money laundering checks (AML) that are being mandated in the UK.

Credas has become one of the first AML providers to be certified against the UK Government’s Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF) following an assessment of their technology, IT security, processes, policies and governance.

With the property sector required by legislation to verify its clients for anti-money laundering purposes, many businesses have turned to Identity Service Providers (IDSPs) to help them manage their customer due diligence.

Up until recently, though, there was no minimum published standard for the operations of an IDSP. This changed when the UK government introduced a certification programme for IDSPs to meet the requirements of their Trust Framework, which acts as a trustmark.

Minimum published standards must now be met by IDSPs wishing to be certified and the government strongly recommends that agents, landlords and employers use an IDSP that is certified against the DIATF framework.

The trustmark will give businesses, who conduct ID verification for AML purposes or as part of Right to Rent and Right to Work checks, the peace of mind that they have been independently assessed and accredited by a recognised government body.

SITA Launches Digital Visa Systems

SITA, the air transport IT and telecommunications company, has launched its own digital visa systems, eVisa and Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA), which also creates ICAO-compliant Digital Travel Credentials (DTCs).

SITA’s eVisa and ETA solutions provide visas containing ICAO’s Visible Digital Seal (VDS), an encrypted bar code that enables visas and ETAs, paper or electronic, to be digitally verified for authenticity, offering enhanced security and fraud prevention.

The mobile capability of SITA’s eVisa and ETA solutions enables travellers to make applications and provide their biometric information using their personal devices before they travel.

eVisa solution (© SITA).

The mobile app also creates ICAO- compliant Digital Travel Credentials (DTCs) – a development in digital identity for travel that may replace physical passports in the future. This is intended to make the passenger journey simpler, more convenient and less time-consuming than applying for more complex traditional or on-arrival visas. For governments, they can biometrically verify the applicant’s identity.

Jeremy Springall, head of SITA at Borders, said that ‘adopting eVisa and ETA supports national prosperity. The solutions help countries to cope with growing passenger volumes, improve security and efficiency, and deliver a more seamless travel experience that travellers demand, removing the complexities of applying for traditional visas’.

‘The adaptability of these two solutions means that they are fully interoperable with existing border control and airline systems,’ he added. ‘And, they comply with international standards and best practices.’

iProov Achieves eIDAS Level of Assurance High

Cyber-security business iProov has announced that it has received a certification for its biometric face verification technology with liveness detection to Level of Assurance High (LoA High) in accordance with the eIDAS (Electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services) regulation.

The eID Assurance LoA High certification ensures that European Union (EU) governments and organisations using iProov’s Genuine Presence Assurance are capable of electronically verifying users across Europe with the highest level of certainty and security. Member states looking to increase the LoA of existing eID programs to level high and support the future requirements of the EU Digital Identity Wallet can integrate with iProov to achieve this without integration audits.

This comes after iProov’s technology received eIDAS module certification to offer trusted services to Trusted Service Providers (TSPs) to Qualified level. This allows organisations to securely bind a user’s identity to a Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) using iProov’s biometric face verification. The QES is validated and recognized as the legal equivalent to a handwritten signature, and also provides a secure audit trail, offering convenience to the end user.

iProov’s Genuine Presence Assurance is compliant with the relevant requirements for biometric face verification, following the regulation Reg. (EU) No. 910/2014 (eIDAS) Article 8 (2) according to eIDAS eID Level of Assurance high. This level of assurance is comparable to NIST 800-63 IAL2 in the US and TDIF IP3 in Australia.

iProov technology is already being used by itsme, providers of Belgium’s digital identity app, and by SK ID in Estonia’s state- certified digital identity solution, SmartID.

Swiss Post Customers Have to Switch to Swiss ID

Until recently, there were two processes for customers to log in to Swiss Post’s online services, but now you can only use your Swiss ID to access the site.

In early 2018, Swiss Post attempted to guide users to log in using the SwissID service. However, it largely failed due to strong resistance from customers following concerns about data security. This was partly due to the fact that the SwissSign company, which is responsible for Swiss ID, not only provided services to the post office and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), but also to private companies such as banks and insurance firms.

That has now changed, emphasises Swiss Post spokesperson Lee Wertheimer. SwissSign is now a subsidiary of Swiss Post: ‘We are very confident that this will strengthen the confidence that we will handle customer data with care.’ In addition, the registration process has been greatly simplified, emphasises Wertheimer.

Swiss Post had already announced in April that anyone new to using Post.ch, Swiss Post’s online portal, could only do so using their SwissID.

From the beginning of August, as many as 10,000 Swiss Post customers per day have been asked to change their login to SwissID. Wertheimer says: ‘There is no economic sense to offer two login variants at the same time.’ For postal customers who do not wish to switch to SwissID, there is an alternative. They will no longer be able to use the post office’s online services and will have to access services over the post office counter.