Yearly Archives: 2016

   In this edition of the DIACC member Spotlight, we chat with experts from Applied Recognition. Learn about their work, why they believe trustworthy digital identification is critical for existing and emerging markets, and why they joined the DIACC league of experts.

1. What is the mission and vision of Applied Recognition?

Applied Recognition’s vision is to create the most accurate and most easily deployed biometric face recognition technology to help protect people, their credentials and their transactions.

Our mission is to partner with organizations which understand the importance of embedding face recognition into their processes to improve both security and users’ experience while respecting privacy.

2. Why is trustworthy digital identity critical for existing and emerging markets?

Simply put, because of the eternal temptations to lie or to steal to which some small percentage of any population will always succumb. Whether to improve existing processes like the validation of an ID at a liquor store or to prevent fraud in an emerging domain like fintech, digital identity is increasingly a prerequisite.

3. How will digital identity transform the Canadian and global economy? How does Applied Recognition address challenges associated with this transformation?

Today, the economy – and society as whole – suffers enormous drag due to problems that have their root in identity considerations.   Fraud is just the tip of the iceberg.  There’s the cost of fraud prevention, enforcement costs, the purchases that don’t happen because the risk of extending a credit is too great, the loss of social capital when tax-funded services are illegally used, the loss of well-being when opioids end up in the wrong hands. Many people have even given up on using dating sites due to identity misrepresentation.

Applied Recognition makes it easy for organizations to integrate face recognition-powered identity verification into how they operate, in all relevant processes.  When the friction caused by lack of confidence in identity is removed, organizations and indeed, society as a whole, can begin to move again at the “speed of trust”.

4. What role does Canada have to play as a leader in the space?

Canada might well be at the sweet spot of “big enough, but not too big” where there’s sufficient pressure to push organizations to deploy new technology yet scope for the kind of cross-industry coordination and private/public alignment that’s going to be required to achieve full ignition.

5. What else should we know about Applied Recognition?

We’ve been at this for longer than just about anyone else – 13 years now – and orient ourselves to serve those organizations that understand the long-term implications of digital identity going biometric. We’ve architected our technology to run entirely on mobile devices as well as in the cloud. Now, that might seem to be a narrow technical observation until considering the importance of preserving flexibility in the face of still emerging user expectations with regards to privacy, speed, security, etc. and the lack of settled law, regulations, and customs. Whether an organization chooses to work with us directly or to spec – in our technology when building an RFP, Applied Recognition is the future-proof choice in a domain where any kind of false start is likely to be very costly.

Learn more about how we make it easy to deploy biometric digital identity at

http://appliedrecognition.com/

In this edition of the Spotlight, we chat with DIACC member experts from Securefact. Learn about their work and why they strongly believe in the vision of a Pan-Canadian digital ID ecosystem to deliver world-class innovations.

1. What is the mission and vision of Securefact?

Mission:
To deliver authoritative data, exceptional software and expert advice

Vision:
To be the North American hub for know your customer, AML/ATF, registry Information and a trusted partner of the financial services industry, regulators and governments

2. Why is trustworthy digital identity critical for existing and emerging markets?

Trusted digital identity is fast becoming a valued currency as the world of digital transactions and mobility continues to transform our lives.  Over a quarter of the world’s population are members of various social media networks and the number of machine-to-machine connections, the “Internet of Things”, is growing at an exponential rate. Our digital foot-print continues to increase and so does our digital identity on who we are, our history and our interests. Companies today continue to find innovative solutions to improve digital customer experience as a key driver for growth.

As our digital identity footprint may reveal a complete picture of us as individuals, and corporations increasingly use applications for their insatiable appetite to win customers, there remains grave concerns. Individuals are concerned with losing privacy and control over their personal information, in addition to the real risk of their identities being stolen. In respect to the latter, with the numerous incidents of major data breaches at fortune 500 companies and reputable government agencies, public trust has been significantly eroded.

Yet, both consumers and organizations realize that a digital identity should be the electronic fingerprint that verifies who we are. It’s the starting point of a digital relationship that allows for the exchange of information, commercial transactions and mutual value. Various studies indicate that personal data must be safeguarded and protected while being used to deliver more value to consumers and organizations. This means striking the right balance between privacy, data protection and authorized use. Our economies depend on electronic communications, commerce and now digital identities.

Therefore, policymakers in partnership with the private sector should ensure that while privacy safeguards are central to any regulations on digital identity, such regulations should be flexible enough so as to not stifle innovation. Consumers should be able to make their own choice on whether they want to derive value from sharing their personal data with the assurance that their data will not be misused.

In conclusion, while many consumers are concerned about protecting their privacy in an ever increasing digital world, billions of people in developing nations globally simply do not have verified digital identities. A trusted digital identity global framework will go a long way in solving the issue of financial inclusion as the momentum of mobile technology solutions continues to transform emerging economies.

What strategic goals does Securefact target to achieve in the next 3 years?

1. Focus on the Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Anti-Terrorist Financing (ATF) solutions
2. Enter and succeed in the US market for KYC advisory and software solutions
3. Committed to develop a positive work culture for our people to have the freedom to be awesome

Why did Securefact join DIACC?

Securefact, a KYC regulatory technology (RegTech) firm with deep expertise in digital identity software solutions and AML/TF compliance advisory is keen to work closely with DIACC to support the development of a national trusted digital identity system.

What else should we know about Securefact?

Securefact enables established financial institutions and emerging FinTechs to operate and continuously innovate in a dynamic, complex, and onerous regulatory environment.

For 20 years, Securefact’s secured lending technologies and KYC solutions have provided data validation, business account opening entity verification and lien registration services.

Securefact offers in-depth AML/TF advisory services and highly innovative KYC SaaS and web-services that enable financial institutions and FinTechs to automate, digitally verify and confidently onboard new customers in compliance with government regulations.

Securefact has the capacity, the strategy and the team to take its proprietary solutions and scale them globally, all while continuing to service the many financial institutions that have grown along with Securefact.

Visit us at www.Securefact.com

In this edition of the DIACC member Spotlight, we chat with DIACC member experts from Digidentity. Learn about their work, why they strongly believe international industry standardizations are critical, and why they joined the DIACC.

1.      What is the mission and vision of your organization?

Digidentity gives you back your privacy on the internet. We offer you one online identity that only you control. Completely digital, without passcodes or tokens. Forget the washing list of usernames and passwords. With your online identity you will be able to deal with an ever-increasing number of companies and government services.

Your Digidentity, your online identity, secure and easy. Be Verified.

2.      Why is Digital Identity critical for your success?

Digidentity is an Identity Provider with a strong focus on high assurance identity, in various verticals. The Digital Identity is the core of our company, where the user and their privacy is key in everything we do.

3.      With regard to Digital Identity, what strategic goals does your organization target to achieve in the next 5 years?

1. Align international frameworks and standards
2. Further developing the market for High Assurance Identities and transactions
3. Stimulate eIDAS and High Assurance digital identity across borders
4. Identity repair
5. Re-use of identities in private and public sector, in a consumer / citizen / business environment

4.      What else would you like us to know about your organization?

Digidentity is an Identity Provider, focussing on end-to-end high assurance identity services. From validation, verification and authentication up to authorization and digital signing on a business level. Our services are being used by local and central governments (The Netherlands and the United Kingdom). Other clients vary from SMEs to multinational enterprises in various industries. We see a high demand in financial services.

Digidentity solutions cover more than 10 million verified unique identities and we handle more than 250 million transactions per year.

5.      Why did you join DIACC?

To learn from DIACC research and to share our insights into identity standards and lessons learned from Europe, specifically the UK and The Netherlands. Together with the other members we could drive the development and adoption of a Pan-Canadian Trust Framework. We have extensive knowledge and experience in working closely with Governments to develop population scale trust ecosystems.

In this edition of the DIACC member Spotlight, we chat with experts from PlaceSpeak. Learn about their work, why they strongly believe Canada benefits from a unified set of Digital Identity standards, and why they joined the DIACC.

1. What is the mission and vision of PlaceSpeak?

Mission: How do you consult with people online within specific geographical boundaries… and prove it?  The answer is PlaceSpeak, a pioneering location-based smart cities civic engagement platform. Our solution combines digital identity authentication with privacy by design principles to strengthen legitimacy in online public processes.

By connecting digital identity to residential address, PlaceSpeak provides geo-located feedback to public, private and nonprofit sector organizations, and closes the feedback loop between public consultation, evidence-based decision-making and accountability; engendering trust.

At the same time, PlaceSpeak enables a citizen-centred approach, leveraging the network effect.  Using open data, PlaceSpeak delivers address-based notifications to keep residents informed, while providing opportunities to be consulted and involved,as well as encouraging collaboration, all of which ultimately empower citizens.

Vision: Over time, PlaceSpeak aims to advance digital democracy: “making it real”. Currently, online citizen engagement is anonymous. and not tied to place. This has led to the proliferation of trolls, sock puppets, astroturfing and other forms of online dysfunctions designed to skew and distort public opinion. Institutions that seem to have left “the people” out of the governing equation have deeply undermined the public trust.

Currently, Canada and other Western Democracies continue to use ineffective and obsolete citizen engagement methods that no longer stand up to scrutiny. At the same time, advancement in information and communications technology has made it possible to engage in legitimate, scalable democratic practices.  PlaceSpeak’s vision is to improve the quality and legitimacy of decision-making and public policy development by modernizing authentication of  digital identity, protecting privacy by design and ‘making it real’ and actionable with regards to public input. This requires a robust, secure, scalable and privacy enhancing digital identification and authentication ecosystem.

2. Why is Digital Identity critical for PlaceSpeak’s success?

Digital identity combined with privacy by design are essential elements of democratic innovation. Popular control in democratic practices requires citizen engagement as well as periodic elections.  Citizen engagement produces the feedback data required as evidence to inform deliberation and outcomes. Evidence, in this case, requires digital identity authentication to be defensible. There can be no official online public participation without an online proof of residency framework that is privacy enhancing, secure, transparent, robust and efficient.

In order to ensure that consultation proponents and decision-makers are hearing from affected  citizens in the relevant geographical area, digital identity verification to place is critical for PlaceSpeak. This aligns with DIACC’s recent proof of concept on Online Proof of Residency, which seeks to demonstrate individuals’ ties to a physical address, on demand, with a reasonable level of assurance.

Finally, by authenticating identity to place, PlaceSpeak is able to use open data to automate the delivery of location-based notifications on an ongoing basis.

3. What strategic goals does PlaceSpeak target to achieve in the next 5 years?

• Consolidate our position as the standard for digital identity authentication to place.
• Develop and integrate additional verification options through partnerships with government telecommunications to incrementally establish and strengthen digital identity to place.
• Establish our citizen-centric model to break down silos of levels of government, departments, regulatory agencies and the private sector to keep citizens informed where they live.
• Land and expand into communities globally, connecting digital identity to place to significantly increase our presence across sectors wherever authentic consultation is desired.

4. What else should we know about PlaceSpeak?

PlaceSpeak is pioneering a citizen-centric model which removes the silos between governments at all levels (federal, state/provincial, local/municipal), between departments and between other public sector and regulatory agencies. By focusing on the individual and creating opportunities to stay informed; be consulted and involved; to collaborate; and be empowered, public participation is encouraged, and thus, leveraging the network effect. By building the tools to facilitate legitimate, defensible online conversations around issues that matter, PlaceSpeak sees itself as an antidote to persistent issues around citizen apathy and public trust.

5. Why did PlaceSpeak join DIACC?

Solidarity. PlaceSpeak seeks to connect and network with other like-minded individuals and organizations. We were alone in the wilderness crying out for an identity ecosystem, and then one emerged in the form of DIACC. PlaceSpeak is committed to advancing best practices in citizen engagement and, in doing so, building trust in our democracy.

In this edition of the DIACC member Spotlight, we chat with experts from 2Keys. Learn about their work, why they strongly believe Canada benefits from a unified set of Digital Identity Standards, and why they joined the DIACC league of experts.

1. What is the mission and vision of 2Keys?

2Keys was founded in 1998 upon the 3 tenets of Information Security: Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability. We are employee owned. Our mission is to help our clients create more secure digital experiences by providing best in class Cyber Security and Digital Identity Solutions.  We have 18 years of experience in Digital ID and authentication. We provide our clients with lifecycle capabilities in Policy, Operations and Technology.

2. Why is Digital Identity critical for your success?

We have been engaged in Digital Identity in both the public and private sectors since day one and the opportunities and challenges of Digital Identity just keep increasing. Digital Identity and authentication allows our clients and their user communities to meet their needs for secure, trusted and always available access to online services and transactions.

Digital Identity and authentication helps to eliminate inefficient and manual paper-based processes and transactions as it also adds value by providing a more secure and private user experience. It can also help an enterprise understand better how to serve its user communities going forward.

With almost two decades of experience in the public and private sectors providing consulting, system development, systems integration, and managed (i.e. outsourced) 24/7 Digital Identity and authentication services, 2Keys is well positioned in the Canadian marketplace to help make Digital Identity a reality.

3. What strategic goals does 2Keys target to achieve in the next 5 years?

We have three strategic goals with respect to Digital Identity: Share our experiences and expertise to help in the development and adoption of Canadian Digital Identity standards; help the Canadian public and private sectors implement and realize the business and security benefits of Digital Identity; and lastly and most importantly, to help improve the range and availability of secure privacy enhancing online services for all Canadians.

2Keys is a strong supporter of Digital Identity standards, supporting the work of the Government of Canada Identity Management Sub Committee on Pan-Canadian Digital Identity Standards as well as the work being done by DIACC on Digital Identity and Identity Proofing.  2Keys envisions a future where these standards will merge into a single unified set of Digital Identity Standards for Canada.

4. What else would you like us to know about 2Keys?

2Keys looks to be a trusted advisor for the public and private sector in Cyber Security and Digital Identity – from policy, to system design, development and integration, to technology selection, to operations and security monitoring and response.  With a range of capabilities from on-site security consulting to fully managed and hosted services, 2Keys has a depth of knowledge and experience in the Canadian Marketplace.  Our Managed Security Services portfolio includes Credential and Identity as a Service, Virtual CISO (vCISO), PKI and HSM as a Service, and SOC as a Service. Lastly while we regularly work with commercial products we are also advocates of the benefits of open standards and open source technologies.

5. Why did you join DIACC?

DIACC is the organization leading the mobilization of the private sector to harmonize public sector approaches to Digital Identity and authentication with private sector needs and opportunities on Digital Identity and Digital Identity Standards in Canada.  We share this objective. DIACC is an organization that is positioned to play an increasingly important role – and it’s also a great place for 2Keys to continue to learn and develop our capabilities and experiences. 2Keys has contributed and will continue to contribute to the good work being done by DIACC.