In a rapidly evolving and data-driven society, digital identity is becoming a significant trend. It’s one of the greatest revolutions witnessed in how individuals interact with different private and public entities. Moreover, the global pandemic resulted in the acceleration of digitization. Consumers are moving to online transactions, which further raises the need for digital verification. Why? Because how safe consumers feel with their digital transactions is a matter of concern. Over 86 percent of consumers prefer to know how their personal information is used, which creates a strong need for businesses to be more transparent.
In an environment of online theft and fraud, and with Crypto gaining more popularity from a niche subject to a mainstream phenomenon, the businesses are adopting an effective and trusted method to prevent identity theft. The pandemic-driven digital transformations have already mounted pressure on these entities to cultivate trust with their customers. It is a trend across government organizations as well as private companies.
In India, the entire revolution started with protecting the Aadhar number of consumers and ensuring that certain guidelines are followed. In fact, the government has already issued many policies and laws to protect sensitive information like Aadhaar PAN, etc. KYC and data masking have been a few other measures to avoid cyber threats and prevent unauthorized data sharing.
Maintaining a digital identification process is of utmost importance
With technological advancements, the authorities are emphasizing on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (ML)-led concepts like Facial Matching and Liveness or Group Face Identification which are proving to be foolproof verification processes. The Facial Matching & Liveness technique is one of the popular trends and the most evolved method of digital identity concerns.
Facial Matching is designed to recognize a human face without physical contact. The solution reads through ML algorithms and matches the facial nodes with the images previously stored in the database. The two types of liveness checks - active and passive - are conducted on the basis of certain facial gestures like the blinking of the eyes and rotating the face in the clockwise and anti-clockwise direction. The software for Group Face Identification also works similarly and can detect multiple faces in one go.
Why are Facial Liveness and Group Facial Identification foolproof techniques?
The no-contact, time-saving, and low-cost technologies can accurately recognize a face even in a crowd. The database contains all the information, and the in-built motion sensor identifies the face with the algorithms, removing the risk of having any human dependency. The banks, defense, and police authorities successfully use facial recognition techniques to prevent criminal activities.
While the private sector has already been using these technologies, government organizations are gradually understanding its use cases. Adapting the digital technologies in the government sector can help them in the long run. First and foremost, it will enable accurate identification of the recipient willing to avail the service/subsidy. Secondly, there will be no mediator, or say, human dependency in the entire process.
Moreover, facial recognition technology is an effective method of tracking attendance in government schools and avoiding the risk of any malicious activity on the premises. The Indian government runs various programs, including mid-day meals or scholarship/fee reimbursement. It is essential to have a digital identity verification system in place to check their effectiveness.
The main objective of the mid-day meal program is to increase the school enrolment and address the serious issue of hunger and malnutrition. But to track the actual number of students/recipients in a class can be a challenge. Similarly, with the scholarship/fee reimbursement program, accurate data is needed to meet the needs. The problem area is tracking the attendance via traditional registers.
Here’s where this technology steps in. Via this technique, the organizations can identify multiple faces simultaneously in a matter of minutes. The data can be shared securely while preventing the risk of being stolen or missing. All this software needs is a strong internet connection to run on any Android/iOS device.
So, in a nutshell, living with digital technologies and executing them with an understanding are two different beasts. That’s what exactly changes the entire game. If the entities want to be successful, they need to embrace it, champion it, and strive to deliver a greater customer experience while avoiding identity thefts.
(Siddharth Kukatlapalli, Co-Founder & Chief Business Officer, Syntizen Technologies)
