OCR Labs Upgrades Government Digital ID Accreditation – Security – Software

Identity verification startup OCR Labs has achieved the highest level of accreditation for a digital service under the federal government’s digital identity program.

The Sydney-based company has ‘upped’ its identity verification tier from two to three, just six months after becoming the first private digital identity provider for spot-checking.

IP3 is the highest level of verification that should be offered under the Trusted Digital Identity Framework (TDIF) without requiring in-person verifications (identity verification level four).

It requires “high confidence in the claimed identity and is intended for services that pose a risk of service fraud consequences”.

IP3 also means that OCR Labs can “verify multiple ID documents and verify face securely”, rather than just multiple ID documents.

Only the government’s own identity provider, the Australian Taxation Office via myGovID, has achieved IP3 accreditation under TDIF to date.

The new accreditation requires OCR Labs to conduct ongoing independent testing of its Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities and additional “death control.”

“NFC technology is becoming increasingly popular due to advances in mobiles equipped with NFC readers, which means you can now scan your passport chip directly from your mobile phone,” OCR Labs said.

OCR Labs is providing facial recognition technology to Neobank 86,400 that Westpac and NAB recently piloted to allow customers to verify their identity via smartphone.

The service works by comparing images of a physical ID document to still images and video of a person, meaning customers no longer have to visit a bank branch for certain interactions.

Risk and compliance manager Paul Warren-Tape said the increased IP3 accreditation gives its “customers confidence that we are maintaining the highest level of security and compliance.”

“Regulations that deal with identity document verification and biometric technologies align,” he said in a statement.

“The TDIF accreditation in Australia is a positive step forward in ensuring that there are standards to protect Australians when using identity verification solutions.”

The government has yet to introduce legislation that would extend the digital identity system to the private sector and state governments, although it planned to do so last year.

It also seems unlikely that the government will introduce the bill before the election, with a few sitting days remaining in the first half of this year.