The Spanish company Veridas has become the first national company to certify its technology for identity verification not in person in the Public Administration. Founded in 2017 as a joint venture between BBVA and das-Nano, it specializes in developing digital identity verification technologies through facial and voice recognition.
Since its publication in the BOE in May of this year, Spain has a regulation that allows us to prove our identity remotely, without the need for physical presence, for the issuance of qualified electronic certificates. However, for a company that wants to provide these services to public institutions, it is It is necessary to guarantee that it meets the security criteria required by the National Cryptological Center. And this is what Veridas has achieved, after obtaining the validation of the Dekra certifier. “It accredits that Veridas’ technology meets all the required technological requirements,” he details. Eduardo Azanza, CEO of the company.
Among other aspects, explains the manager, it is reviewed that video-identification systems are evaluated by the NIST (an American independent entity that certifies and evaluates the safety, precision and reliability of biometric engines worldwide) with a specific rate of precision , that anti-fraud methods “both biometric and in the document” are used, and that a human review of the process is possible a posteriori. “With a system that meets all the requirements, it can be ensured that the process provides a level of security equivalent in terms of reliability to physical presence, as stipulated by the eIDAS regulation at European level,” he adds.
According to the manager, the company’s vision focuses on three key aspects: shielding security in identification processes to reduce the risk of theft of passwords and keys; optimize costs to make processes more efficient, both for users and for companies; and improve the user experience so that the procedures are agile, comfortable and simple.
Biometric technology can be implemented for use in all Administrations, both at the state, regional or municipal level. Its application could, for example, allow pensioners to digitally certify their lives to avoid traveling to the local office. It could also be used for the self-employed to carry out administrative procedures and procedures or to validate the physical characteristics of a user with their ID.
“Citizens already have what it takes to be able to use this technology that simplifies their relationship with the Administration: a computer, tablet or mobile with a camera and a microphone, an internet connection and your ID or other official identity document. It’s that simple, “says Azanza.
And when asked if the ‘technologization‘Of the administrative procedures could widen the digital divide, especially among older people, the CEO of Veridas considers that biometrics presents an “ease of use” that “allows a greater real inclusion of the elderly.” “They have already shown that they are perfectly capable of handling new technologies, if they are easy to use (I am thinking of my mother using WhatsApp)”, he raises, and gives as an example a case of success in Mexico. The company has been in charge of verifying the identity of more than 100,000 pensioners from the Central American country, who have given proof of life through the verification of their voice in a phone call. “Voice biometrics will be key in the digital inclusion of the elderly because it is a communication tool that they use with confidence and security,” he adds.
In Spain, Navarra was the first community to implement biometrics: nearly 300,000 users can use the EDUCA public computer system to manage key school information. According to Eduardo Azanza, “this use, facilitated by Veridas altruistically, was activated during the 2020 state of alarm so that teachers, legal guardians and students could access remotely, secure and agile to this platform “.
Follow the Euskadi trail. The Basque government has already confirmed that it will implement the Veridas tool so that Basque citizens can ‘video identify’ themselves electronically, “in a secure way”, through their mobile devices. Specifically, it can be used to obtain the BakQ, a means of identification and electronic signature of the Basque Country. The consistory will make it available to users when their approval is complete.
And everything indicates that more practical applications will come in the coming months, because the Central State Administration “is already working on its implementation.” “Those public administrations that have the right to issue digital certificates (so far only in face-to-face format), they are already being approved to use this technology and do it remotely “, asserts Eduardo Azanza.
Veridas has more than 100 clients in 14 countries, among which are (in addition to the aforementioned public entities) CaixaBank, Endesa, BBVA, Mapfre, Ventocom, Holland Casino, Laboral Kutxa or Acciona Mobility. In March of this year, they closed an agreement with Deutsche Telekom as a strategic partner: the German telecom company will use the Spanish company’s voice biometric technology in its conversational artificial intelligence platform. In addition, they have just opened subsidiaries in the US and Mexico to consolidate and expand their position throughout the American continent and, “in parallel, we continue to grow in Europe.”
The company is currently made up of a team of more than 100 persons, mostly Spanish engineers.