NSW Picks Tech Vendor for Digital ID Program

Auckland-based MATTR has been selected as New South Wales’ tech partner for the Australian state’s Digital ID and Verifiable Credentials program.

The news comes after NSW’s Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government, Victor Dominello, announced last November that the state would embark upon a digital ID pilot involving “photo verification technology”—a development that itself followed Dominello’s proposal of a parliamentary inquiry into the use of AI technology such as facial recognition.

That having been said, it isn’t clear if MATTR’s work on the NSW government’s project will involve selfie-based identity verification technology. MATTR does not advertise such capabilities in its platform, but does offer support for passwordless login tools and the use of mobile biometrics for unlocking a mobile wallet.

In announcing its NSW contract, MATTR explained that its verifiable credentials will help the state’s residents prove their identity while limiting the amount of personal information that they share for any given transaction.

“Our verifiable credentials solution helps organizations who are looking for ways to create confidence in digital interactions,” said CEO Claire Barber. “We apply data minimisation principles that enable individuals to share the information they need to, without oversharing, and which avoid the creation of unnecessary data ‘honeypots’ that can then be targeted by bad actors.”

The NSW digital ID solution will enable users to confirm their age for alcohol purchases, and to renew a “Working with Children Check” remotely. MATTR says it will be a decentralized solution, but one that does not use blockchain technology.

Established in 2019, MATTR has seen its digital ID technology used in a pilot with ten academic institutions in Ontario, Canada, according to a CRN report. It also won a vaccine passport contract from the New Zealand government in 2021. The company is a subsidiary of the Australian telecom Spark.

Sources: CRN, Scoop

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(Originally published on Mobile ID World)