Latest IDEMIA White Paper Explains ‘Identity on the Edge’

IDEMIA is laying out its bold vision for a new approach to digital identity in a new white paper, “Identity on the Edge“.

It’s essentially IDEMIA’s answer to the question of how to leverage the benefits of biometric digital identity while protecting end users’ data and privacy. And the concept is realized in the company’s Mobile ID solution, which lets users upload virtual versions of their official driver’s license, and uses facial recognition to confirm that they’re a match.

In this framework, there are two parties who have access to the user’s official identity information: the issuer of the official state ID – in other words, the Department of Motor Vehicles – and the end user, whose personal mobile device contains the Mobile ID app. Between these two edges are all of the various services and interactions through which the user confirms their identity via Mobile ID – for example, a bank might confirm the user’s identity via Mobile ID.

But the bank itself does not have access to all of the information associated with the Mobile ID in this example; it can only use it to confirm certain information, such as the user’s name and address.

That means the identity information remains ‘on the edge’. That is, it stays with the user, and the only other party that has the information is the DMV. The bank only gets access to the information it needs, facilitating a process that IDEMIA calls “Identity as a Service”. User data is thus protected, but third parties still benefit from the certainty that biometric identity verification brings to the table.

There is much more to the story, of course. Issues pertaining to standards, interoperability, and liveness detection are important considerations, and they get a full accounting in IDEMIA’s white paper. The company also delves into some of the major use cases that its Mobile ID solution, and its underlying Identity on the Edge framework, will enable. Be sure to read the full paper to get acquainted with one of the most important new paradigms in digital identity today.