AI-based solutions for identity verification now approved for certain use cases in Germany

The published order is based on the German Trust Services Act, which implements the eIDAS Regulation in Germany. The catalogue of criteria published by Bundesnetzagentur and Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) prescribes technology standards for automated identity verification. IDnow's technology uses so-called Deep Learning to perform an identification at the same security level as a personal identification. For this purpose, the self-developed AI automatically recognises the security features of the ID documents in a video stream and performs a biometric face comparison of a video selfie with the ID document. This is complemented by new security mechanisms such as a ‘liveness detection’ that prevents attacks through recorded videos and photos.

IDnow sees the regulator's decision as an important step towards a digital society in Germany and a turning point for German companies in international market comparison. IDnow expects a change for German consumers, as the new decree will make technologies such as digital identities accessible to the broad population in the future – regardless of the individual citizen's affinity for technology.