Renting a car is as simple as making a booking, agreeing on where to pick up the car and showing your driver’s license. Listing a car to share isn’t exactly rocket science and, if you don’t need your car in the immediate future, it’s a good way to make a quick buck. Wide coverage and a large user base makes Blox Car the top choice to go for when looking to rent or list a car in Finland. 

With nearly 15,000 monthly visitors on their website, Blox Car’s strong team has taken on a mission to build an easy and, most importantly, safe peer-to-peer car-sharing service. Blox Car has seen rapid growth over the past few months, and chose Veriff as a partner to accelerate customer onboarding. 

Considering that car-sharing is a relatively new industry, establishing trust is a key challenge. Having a solid and scalable identity verification process allows the platform’s users to be sure that they know who they are transacting with. This is where Veriff comes in, helping Blox Car solve the challenge of trust. 

Importance of identity verification for Blox Car

After partnering up with Veriff, Blox Car has made the sign-up process for their platform as simple as ABC. In order to verify your identity, you simply need to have:

A device (smartphone, tablet, computer) with a camera

The process itself is simple and takes only a few minutes. You need to:

Capture pictures of the IDs front & back side

Within just around a minute you will be granted access to the platform, having hundreds of vehicles to choose from. 

Through crosslinking network and device data, analyzing facial biometrics and referencing the document to Veriff’s internal and external databases, fraudulent sign-up attempts are identified and mitigated. This contributes to the overall hygiene of the platform, ensuring a high quality service for both renters and listers. All of this is done within a couple of minutes, so users don’t have to wait when signing up.

Veriff Station gives SMEs, such as Blox Car, an opportunity to outsource the identity verification of their customers, so they could focus on what’s really important to them. With tiers as low as 70 verifications a month, Veriff provides a smart and scalable solution to verify your clients with no commitment and flexible payment plans. Learn more at https://www.veriff.com/

Transportation is often taken for granted. It makes our lives more connected and allows for more freedom in travel. Owning a car is one of the most popular options, however it is also expensive. 

Transportation is often taken for granted. It makes our lives more connected and allows for  more freedom in travel. Owning a car is one of the most popular options, however it is also expensive. Car-sharing makes it possible to save up on the costs of owning a car, split maintenance, insurance and other hidden fees between multiple people. 

Blox Car partners up with Veriff, preventing fraud at scale

What does the centre need Veriff’s service for? There are about 90 different companies and foundations that organise camps for about 30,000 kids in Estonia every year. All of these camps need qualified and well trained camp managers and counselors to take care of the kids coming to the camp. The Estonian Youth Work Centre issues the official certificates for the camp counselors, organises different trainings for the camp staff as well as carries out the qualification tests and exams. Each year about 500 - 600 people participate in their trainings and take exams.

In the current emergency situation caused by the Coronovirus, where face to face contact is very limited, the center had to find a new solution for carrying out the trainings and taking the qualification test. This is where Veriff came into play. Instead of having a physical presence in a classroom to take the exam, Veriff’s solution enables the centre to remotely identify the person taking the exam. That means, the tests will be taken virtually and Veriff will verify the person’s identity digitally.

„The biggest worry for us was how to identify a person before they start taking the exam. It’s also vital that all personal data of the people taking the exams will be handled with care and in accordance with the law,“ said the Head of the Estonian Youth Work Centre, Edgar Schlümmer.  

This is where Veriff’s solution comes in. Before a person taking the exam logs in the e-exam platform, they receive a link to identify themselves. For remote identification, the person needs a device with a camera and a valid government issued ID like a living permit, an ID card, or a passport. After the person has identified themselves, Veriff directs them to the e-exam website to log in and take the exam.

As to the trainings for the managers and counselors, many of them are done virtually via video streams or take place on different online platforms. 

“ We have experienced lots of great teamwork to manage the challenges we are facing in the emergency situation. We are really grateful to all organisations that have contributed to making the trainings and testing possible.” 

A week ago, Veriff launched a project to donate 1 million free verification to support nonprofits and foundations amidst the unique challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Face to face interaction is currently limited to an absolute minimum, yet identity verification is more important than ever before. 

Potential beneficiaries of free verifications range from universities who need to verify people taking exams to marketplaces that have volunteers who help people in need and to registries that could tackle fake accounts and set up reliable databases about people in quarantine. But also, digital health care service providers, organisations fighting fake news and beyond.  

The 1 million free verifications program for nonprofits and foundations runs until the end of June. Read more about the project here: https://www.veriff.com/news/veriff-donates-1-million-verifications


Veriff’s 1 million free verifications program has successfully been kicked off. The first organisation to start using Veriff’s free verifications is the Estonian Youth Work Centre (EYWC). It’s a national centre that coordinates and develops youth work in Estonia.

Veriff’s 1 million free verifications program has successfully been  kicked off. The first organisation to start using Veriff’s free verifications is the Estonian Youth Work Centre (EYWC). It’s a national centre that coordinates and develops youth work in Estonia in cooperation with governmental and youth work agencies, local governments, youth associations and other institutions. 

Estonian Youth Work Centre is the first beneficiary of the free verifications

Veriff’s information security team aims to highlight these tactics and offer cyber hygiene practices on how to avoid becoming the next victim of COVID-19-related scams. Here’s what you need to watch for. 

Phishing scams are dangerous because, especially times like this, you are made to believe that the message is sent from someone you trust. Normally these messages ask you to send your login details or payment for a service. Noteworthy examples of this are the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) whose identities have been misused in phishing campaigns. WHO has issued a warning for users to be aware of such fraudulent activity on their webpage, titled “Beware of criminals pretending to be WHO.” 

There are a handful of cyber hygiene practices that can help you avoid phishing scams, such as:

Verify the sender - check the email address to see if it’s a trusted source. There’s no harm in double checking with the source directly to see if you should have received an email from them.

Avoid clicking links or attachments - links or attachments in unsolicited emails should not be trusted. They could direct you to malicious webpages and/or cause you to download malware.

Reconsider providing your personal information - customarily companies and other organizations never ask for your personal details (username, password, banking information, etc.) in an email. You should not feel compelled to disclose your personal details in this manner.

Other popular scams taking advantage of the pandemic are related to financial fraud. Criminals are defrauding victims online by posting fake marketplaces, sites and social media accounts claiming to sell a range of medical supplies. The United States Department of Justice has a list of scams, including but not limited to, the selling of fake cures and vaccines, asking payment for patient treatment as well as the aforementioned selling of medical supplies. Before you make any COVID-19 related purchases, be sure to:

Verify the legitimacy of the seller’s website - scammers will most likely use web addresses that impersonate legitimate marketplaces. The web address and customer reviews can be red flags for illegitimate webshops.

Ignore offers for vaccines or other treatment options - as of now there is no definitive cure for this disease, nor is there a vaccine. If an effective treatment is found, trusted sources (WHO, CDC and your local Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency) will post further information.

Be wary of monetary transactions via abnormal methods - payments requested via wire transfer, gift card or cryptocurrency should be considered suspicious. 

Although not necessarily linked to criminal activity, the spread of misinformation is fueling public anxiety and uncertainty of what lies ahead. This so-called ‘infodemic’ surrounding COVID-19 has been an obstacle for tech giants as of late. Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube Microsoft, LinkedIn and Reddit have come together to combat misinformation by elevating authoritative content and coordinating with government healthcare agencies to share updates. You can do your part in limiting the spread of such information by doing the following:

Fact check your findings - the best way to stay informed is to arm yourself with cold hard facts. Make it a habit to research claims asserted online to determine their credibility.

Only share updates sent by trusted health sources - you can help stop the spread of misinformation by sharing information directly from trusted sources, such as WHO, CDC or other healthcare professionals. Circulating non-factual posts can be dangerous, and in some cases, life threatening. 

If you believe that you have fallen victim to either of these COVID-19 scams, don’t fret. You can still remedy the situation by taking these reactionary measures:

Report the scam - the first step in reacting to a scam should be reporting it to the relevant authority. Reach out to the business or organization whose identity is being used in the scam and alert them of the fraudulent activity.

Change your credentials - in case you happen to send a username, password or other credentials to a scammer, make sure to quickly change them. Changing credentials prevents a criminal from accessing your personal accounts.

Scan your computer with antivirus software - having your antivirus scan your machine helps you remove malware that you may have inadvertently downloaded. Please also make sure your antivirus is up-to-date.

Contact your bank/credit card company about fraudulent charges - you can dispute fraudulent charges found on your account or credit card. Doing so will mitigate the damage done.

Remove social media posts - taking down misinformative posts from your account limits the number of others who will later see and potentially share it.

We each have the ability to protect ourselves and others by staying well-informed about both the health and cyber threats COVID-19 poses. Let’s do our part to help the internet be a safe place for all during this trying time. Most importantly, practice personal and cyber hygiene habits to stay safe wherever you may be.

Over the past few months, the world has been introduced to the recently discovered coronavirus, better known as COVID-19. This disease has caused widespread panic amidst national lockdowns and recorded fatality rates, which cyber criminals are using to their advantage. 

Over the past few months, the world has been introduced to the recently discovered coronavirus, better known as COVID-19. This disease has caused widespread panic amidst national lockdowns and recorded fatality rates, which cyber criminals are using to their advantage. Criminals are cashing in on the pandemic using various methods ranging from phishing emails to hosting fake marketplaces, and releasing malicious software. 

Veriff’s Tips on How to Survive COVID-19 Scams

This week the global coronavirus pandemic swept through the U.S., resulting in widespread school closures that have affected more than 26 million American students. Some schools have been completely shuttered, while many chose to take on a new challenge: providing digital education from a distance. 

This temporary transition comes with a variety of requirements. For starters, there’s the software. How to seamlessly connect so many students and teachers simultaneously? Notably, video conference leaders like Cisco, Google and Zoom are bolstering the effort by making premium services available at no cost; Adobe is providing at-home access to its Creative Cloud software for millions of students. Here at Veriff, we are giving away one million free verifications to global nonprofit organizations (more on that later).

The software needed to tackle this shift represents only a portion of the resources required to create a digital infrastructure of this magnitude on such short notice. Some students don’t have access to computers or Wi-Fi at home. Many kids are unfamiliar with navigating educational software. Some can’t yet type proficiently. The whiplash from COVID-19’s impact has left the American educational world struggling, as most U.S. states do not have a system to support digital learning at the scale currently needed.

Though the list of requirements is long, the nexus — and starting point — is software. “We in Estonia are very lucky,” explains Triin Uustalu, Veriff’s chief marketing officer. “For me and my kids, this was an easy transition, as we have had e-school in place for over a decade already.” While the transition to remote learning is an entirely new beast for many American families and school systems, it is a part of everyday life in Estonia, a country whose infrastructure is built atop software.

“By 1997, [97%] of Estonia’s schools were digitized, with cabinet meetings following suit in 2000. Every law...is published online. In 2000, the government also declared access to the internet a human right. In 2007, the government created online voting, making Estonia the first country with e-voting in a general election. Estonia is now E-stonia...and one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world.” (Source)

For decades, Estonia has been quietly leading the way to a frictionless online world as the planet's most advanced digital nation. 99% of all public services are available online 24/7. Medical records, ballot casting, tax filing, homework...you name it: for an Estonian, it's easily accessible by laptop. Estonia is well-recognized, globally, for its advanced online government services and thus finds itself relatively prepared for the challenges at hand. 

Most Estonian schools already use platforms like eKool or Stuudium to track things like grades, assignments, schedules, and projects; keep parents informed and connected, assign homework, provide general resources and even teach digital skills. Functions can range from receiving feedback or completing assignments to conducting parent-teacher communications, and tracking sick days, extra-curricular activities and access to library materials. Many of these platforms are products of direct collaborations between schools, universities, and Estonian tech companies.

 “Estonia is known as one of the most tech-savvy countries in the world, potentially a big advantage as the outbreak forces economic activity online. The software for Skype was written in Tallinn. Bolt, a ride-hailing, electric scooter and delivery service that is challenging Uber, is based there….The tiny Baltic nation, population 1.3 million, has one of the most dynamic economies in the eurozone.  

“[Estonia has] hidden strengths. An economy with lots of companies that can deliver their services digitally, and where employees can work from home, should be relatively resilient. This could be Estonia’s moment; its capital, Tallinn, has a lively digital start-up scene.” (Source)

Uustalu has two children in Estonian schools right now. One institution uses eKool, the other Stuudium.

“It is so easy to track what my kids need to do when they are ill at home, for example,” she explains. “I am a very hands-off mom, so I don’t check that they’ve done their homework every night, but I know many parents do. Plus, when the kids are sick or away [HJ1] I just log on, check the right box and voilá...done. No messing around figuring out how to inform the teacher, send a doctor’s note, or anything similar.” 

Triin mostly uses these platforms to check her kids’ grades, and for communicating with other parents, teachers, and the school administration. (The Parents’ Council at one school also stores meeting notes and decision-making processes online to keep parents up to date.) 

Various Estonian schools have also implemented “digital days” once or twice a year—when kids are asked to learn from home, the library, or somewhere else outside of the classroom. The tradition helps children develop digital skills and gain proficiency from an early age. Inadvertently, digital days may have also equipped Estonian families to be better prepared for weeks, maybe months, of remote learning.

All of this is to say that, for Triin, her family, and many others in Estonia, “this was an easy transition.” She noted that there is now a movement to donate devices to Estonian families in need. “All families are different, and for some this transition will still be a struggle. Not everyone is as techy as my kids.”

The nation of Estonia is prepared and eager to step up and help a world in crisis mode. “We are ready to share Estonia’s best practices and solutions with the countries in need,” announced Mart Laidmets, Secretary-General of the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research. “After all, providing education is essential for a sustainable society[.]”

To start, the nation has made all digital education tools publicly available in an effort to support the education systems of other countries throughout the current crisis. This list is rolling and will grow as more Estonian companies like Veriff opt to offer their services for free to millions in need.

As mentioned, over the course of the next few months Veriff will be donating one million identity verification sessions to nonprofit organizations around the world. On top of this initiative, there are several critical new use cases for IDV as education goes remote on a global scale:

Registration, account access and credential recovery

Parental access to the personal data of minors

This list, like the number of Estonian tech companies stepping up to carry the planet forward, will only continue to grow. As an American, I’d urge us to examine and learn from the digital way of life Estonia has established over the past 30 years. From chaos, opportunities are born. The coronavirus pandemic will reach and hurt each of us all in different ways, and it will change intimate elements of our lives. From these ashes, a phoenix will rise: a world that is strong and supportive, more caring, connected, and prepared; a global community whose members, in times of great peril and uncertainty, can lean on each other’s knowledge to adapt and learn together, and keep each other safe, healthy, and happy.

Thanks to Triin Uustalu and Josh Hyatt for contributing to this piece. 

Estonia Can Teach a Lesson in Remote Learning That The World Needs Right Now

Veriff pledges to support nonprofits and foundations amidst the unique challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has brought upon us by donating 1 million free identity verifications. Face to face interaction is currently limited to an absolute minimum, yet identity verification is more important than ever before. The solution is reliable and secure remote identity verification at scale.  

According to Kaarel Kotkas, Veriff founder and CEO, the demand for remote verifications has significantly increased over the last couple of weeks. “We decided to help nonprofits and foundations that could benefit from our technology as they are working hard despite the challenges presented by the pandemic and finding solutions to put a stop to it. We're focusing on solutions and making different services accessible from distance. We are a force of good and would like to make a difference.”

The 1 million free verifications program for nonprofits and foundations runs until the end of June. Organizations can apply for consideration on the Veriff website: https://www.veriff.com/1-million-free-verifications 

Veriff donates 1 million ID verifications to nonprofits and foundations across the globe. 

Assisted Image Capture (AIC) helps to avoid some of the most common mistakes that people make when going through the verification flow, especially when doing it for the first time. Examples include taking low-quality photos or failing to show both sides of the ID. Assisted Image Capture provides real-time user feedback in the moment, within the verification flow itself, to avoid the need for resubmissions and correct errors prior to user submission.

According to Janer Gorohov, Veriff co-founder and COO, after analyzing millions of verifications the company recognized that people tend to make the same mistakes when going through the identity verification process. “As delays cost time and money for our clients, we created a solution that gives end-users real-time feedback and helps honest people get through IDV so they can start using the vendor’s services. As AIC has been a part of our product for a while now and the results have been superb, we identified that making it a standalone product could help many companies facing similar challenges.”

Assisted Image Capture use cases range from sharing economies to fintechs, marketplaces and beyond. It has provided an increase in first-time pass rates and general operational stability as well as decreased general and verification-related costs. 

Veriff's verification technology uses machine learning to prevalidate sessions before they are reviewed (if necessary). Veriff detects errors in photos that would make them unsuitable and communicates the right fixes to users in real-time. Blurriness, glare or an obscured face or damaged/unusable ID documents are just a few examples of common mistakes. 

All in all, Assisted Image Capture has significantly boosted user conversions and decision speed for various Veriff partners, who report fewer rejections and failed attempts and significant improvements both in terms of customer experience as well as operational scalability. 

Veriff launches a new product - Assisted Image Capture - to improve verification pass rates, user conversions and speed. The unique solution gives end-users real-time feedback and guidance within the verification process. 

Veriff launches Assisted Image Capture solution

According to Janer Gorohhov, the co-founder and COO of Veriff, this is a market-driven product innovation. It allows enterprises to pick and choose from over 20 different features and checks, based on the individual use case, in order to guide as many honest users through the onboarding process as possible.

“We took it one step further than the one size fits all approach and built a highly configurable product that allows our clients to select verification features that match their regulatory or internal needs. All this is to maximize verification conversion so our clients can focus on developing their core business,” explained Gorohhov.

Businesses can choose a fully automatic verification service that verifies an identity in a matter of seconds. This configuration suits clients who value conversion rates and speed and run limited volumes of ID checks.  

More risk-averse businesses, who may focus on preventing individual cases of fraud, can opt for a deeper configuration that leverages both automation and specialized human intuition concurrently in order to build trust and maximize protection. In addition to document validation and face matching, these companies can dig deep with capabilities such as browser, device, and network ID tracking and fingerprinting; background video analysis and liveness checks for fraud detection, KYC compliance and PEP and Sanctions checks.

Veriff supports over 7,000 government-issued IDs from 190 countries, which is far more than any other IDV service provider. Our global reach allows you to verify customers from all corners of the world.

We have localized our end-user flows for the world’s biggest markets, and the more languages we offer, the better. With 35 languages supported today, our team will continue to expand our reach in a way that aligns with the strategic visions of our partners. 

Veriff launches a new product update that enables clients to configure verification features based on their specific needs and risk tolerance.

Veriff launches configurable verification service

We're excited to share the tweaks and improvements to our dashboard and end-user flows, as well as announce that we now support 7,000+ government-issued IDs. Here's a full overview of what's changed since the start of the year.

Through rigorous testing, our product teams are able to identify small ways to improve our end-user flows that ultimately make a significant impact for our clients. While tweaks change from client to client and from web integrations to SDKs, here are the universal updates made last month.

Users that go through our web verification flows will now see a waiting screen after the flow is complete. This screen gives them more visibility into what is happening behind the scenes. They are also able to wait until a final decision is made and see the results immediately on the screen.

Other changes include additional photo prevalidation checks during the flow, giving users more concrete feedback. Our resubmission screens now include more information for users on how to improve their photos, providing detailed examples that will boost pass rates. 

The additional photo prevalidation checks are also available in our Android SDKs. We also tested product copy and adjusted it to give users more clarity on how to capture their selected identity documents.  

These updates come in addition to our routine bug fixes and updates, which are aimed to bump up quality and reliability.

After releasing Veriff Station in November 2019, we received plenty of actionable feedback from users like yourself. This month, our team made it possible for users in the Support role to create live sessions. 

Managing Countries and Documents under the integrations Integrations tab was also made more user-friendly. We added the functionality to bulk select per request from several clients. 

While product teams are busy with fine-tuning our dashboard and end-user flows, our verification department works around the clock to add more and more specimens to our database of supported government-issued IDs. This month we passed the 7,000 mark, and look forward to continuing to pump up those numbers throughout 2020.

Be sure to update your SDKs and web flows to make the most of these new features. Don't hesitate to share your feedback with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter and happy Veriffing!

With the longest month of the year behind us, here is what our product teams have been working on in January 2020.

What’s New in January 2020: Veriff Product Update

In June 2018, California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The CCPA demands that companies to show all the data they have about consumers residing in California, including a complete list of all third parties who have access to that data. This resulted in companies being forced to overhaul their data collection methods and caused turmoil for many.

Businesses that are inside or outside the state of California must be CCPA compliant now that the deadline, January 1, 2020, has passed. This is a positive move towards consumer rights, and one of the key features of these new regulations is that companies must notify consumers of the attempt to generate profits with their data, and also grant them a means to not participate in that monetization.

Despite having close to two years to prepare, many companies still struggle to comply. To give you a thorough understanding of what is expected and how to go about being compliant, the following guide covers:

How outsourcing identity verification can help

The CCPA applies to any business that generates profits by selling, sharing, or collecting personal data from California residents. While this sounds a little vague, the CCPA does list criteria for companies that need to comply, including:

They store personal data from 50,000+ consumers, devices, or households

Over 50% of its annual revenue comes from the sale of personal data

Its annual gross revenues exceed $25 million

Before diving into how being compliant works, it is important to understand how the CCPA defines personal data. Below is the definition included in the act:

“Information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household.”

While this seems like an alarmingly vague way to define personal data, the CCPA elaborates on the definition. Below are the different categories of personal data as well as concrete examples of each:

Identifiers: real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, social security number, driver’s license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers

Characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law: age, gender expression, sexual orientation, race, religion, gender identity.

Commercial information: records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies

Personal data from California consumers that businesses collect: address, number of kids, how fast a consumer drives, consumer’s personality, sleep habits, biometric and health information, financial information, geolocation information, social network, etc.

Biometric information: fingerprint, height, facial recognition, voice, hair color, etc.

Internet or other electronic network activity information: browsing history, search history, and information regarding a consumer’s interaction with an Internet Web site, application, or advertisement

Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information.

Professional or employment-related information

Interferences: information identified to create a profile about a consumer reflecting the consumer’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, preferences, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes

Having all personal data well organized and handy is essential to being CCPA compliant. This is because consumers have the right to request all data a company has about them twice a year free of charge. This is just one of many consumer rights under the CCPA, others include:

The right to say no to the sale of your personal data

Right to sue companies who collected your data when a breach occurs

The right to request the deletion of your personal data

The right to know the purpose of collecting an individual’s personal data

The right to know the sources of information where consumer personal data was acquired

The third parties with whom personal data is shared

These are the most important rights in terms of how they can impact your business. You can view the full list of consumer rights under the CCPA here.

Having access to all this information in a way that makes it possible for customers to exercise their rights can be challenging. To help you adapt to the new changes that CCPA brings, we put together a quick checklist of activities.

Have a registry of the personal data you collected about each customer over the past 12 months. When customers approach you with a request for their data, make sure the consultations are free of charge.

If one of your consumers asks you to disclose or delete personal data about them, be sure to respond within the first ten days to the request. The term can be extended to 45 days if necessary.

Provide your consumers with the option to decide what personal data you can store. This includes giving your consumers the right to use their right to opt-out of the sale of their data. In case they do decide to opt-out, refrain from discriminating against it. This includes providing equal benefits and service quality regardless of whether they opt-in or out.

If one of your consumers is between 13 and 16 years old, remember to get their consent before selling their personal data. In the case of children under 13, you must obtain consent from their parents.

Remember to update your privacy policy and include all the modifications that the CCPA demands.

One of the most important differences between CCPA and GDPR is that CCPA explicitly grants consumers the right to sue companies if unauthorized personnel have access to their personal data. 

While the range of fines is from $100 and $750 for each event, consumers can claim much more depending on the damage done. In the exact terms the CCPA uses, consumers can:

“Recover damages in an amount not less than one hundred dollars ($100) and not greater than seven hundred and fifty ($750) per consumer per incident or actual damages, whichever is greater.”

Civil penalties should also be considered. The Attorney General can also prosecute a business for general violations of the CCPA, even if there has been no breach under CCPA. The maximum fine is $7,500 for unintentional violations and $2,500 when breaches are accidental.

If you are already familiar with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you may have already noticed some similarities.

Both the CCPA and GDPR were created to give data subjects certain rights with respect to their personal data, including:

Both laws also contemplate the scope of extraterritoriality. This means that the regulations will affect any business in the world as long as certain requirements are met. For the CCPA, any company that trades with consumer data of over 50,000 California residents must comply. In the case of GDPR, it doesn’t matter where the company is as long as it offers services to individuals within the EU. 

While there are many similarities in the objectives of both reforms, there is a big difference in fines. CCPA fines are imposed by the California General Attorney, ranging from $2,500 to $7,500 per violation. On the other hand, GDPR fines are imposed by the Data Protection Authority of EU member states, and range from 4% of a company’s global annual turnover up to €20 million.

7. How an identity verification partner can help

When comparing CCPA and GDPR, both aim to improve transparency between consumers and businesses with regards to personal data use. For global companies in regulated industries where knowing your customer is required being compliant on both fronts is critical.

Using an identity verification partner can help you manage personal data in a way that is both secure and compliant with regulations like GDPR and the CCPA. Veriff helps international companies like Turo, Blockchain, and more verify users and meet regulatory demands. Learn more about how we can help by scheduling a demo with one of our product specialists.

The deadline for complying with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) has passed. Here’s everything you need to know about how to stay compliant with these new regulations.

Your Guide to Complying with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

If you offer services in the digital space, user verification is essential regardless of whether you are required to do it by law. Identity verification is about more than legal compliance. It’s about making sure your customers are who they say they are and building relationships. 

Veriff’s data, gathered from millions of verifications a year, detect that as much as 5% of all attempted verifications are fraudulent, with some industries like cryptocurrency and block-tech seeing rates as high 24.6%. This and the hefty fines that come with non-compliance are just a couple of reasons why companies beyond financial sectors are looking to expert solutions for help.

When looking for a first-time provider to comply with industry regulations, what you need will differ from someone looking to switch. You likely aren’t sure about your exact needs, and do not have the experience to know what works and doesn’t work for you.

It helps to get an idea of the level of risk you are working with. Certain industries come with higher risk appetites. For example, the fintech sector is highly regulated whereas marketplaces deal with differing compliance laws. 

In addition to your compliance needs, it is also important to note the extent to which you are willing to sacrifice speed for security. More security checks and steps reduce the risks of fraud, but also add steps to your conversion funnel, and some tools are able to optimize this better than others. 

You already have a provider, but you’re not happy

Let’s say your current provider ghosted you after the sale was complete, leaving you with a stiff, inflexible solution that no longer meets your needs. To keep up with the shifting priorities and needs in a dynamic regulatory environment, you need a partner that is able and willing to adapt their product to suit your needs.

Ultimately, you need to know what is on the market. Below are the features and specs that will help you find a partner that is willing to grow with you.

There are plenty of terms and phrases in the IDV industry. Before diving into the specific features of an IDV service and explaining the benefits, it is important to understand how the degree of automation impacts IDV service speed, quality, and your conversions.

Simply put, an automated IDV service relies solely on machine learning technology to make decisions. Decisions basically mean if a person is verified as the person they claim to be or not. 

Automated decisions are much quicker when everything goes right, and do not place your customers in queues to be manually reviewed. While this sounds great, they are also easier to deceive and therefore increase the risk for fraud or non-compliance. And if something goes wrong, troubleshooting is much more time-consuming than when manual review is an inherent part of the process.

On the other end of the spectrum, fully manual services solve the problem of accuracy but tend to come with high costs. Providing this kind of service requires a large team of outsourced in-house specialists, and this will be reflected on your bill.

It’s hard prioritizing one over the other and unnecessary as a third option exists. Veriff is an example of a service that uses both machine learning and manual reviews for challenging sessions to leverage the benefits of both. 

Now that you have a better understanding of the level of automation you’d like in the service, there are other features and factors that influence conversions. After all, it’s all about welcoming customers first, staying compliant second.

One of the best ways to improve conversion rates during verification is to give users real-time feedback while they complete each step. Veriff is one provider that offers this feature, helping clients like Mintos deliver pass rates as high as 95%.

To give this feedback, Veriff uses machine learning to detect flaws in photos such as poor lighting or unreadable ID text, then customers are automatically instructed to fix it. 

Another way to boost conversions and prepare your users for the additional steps that identity verification adds is to provide supporting material. A great example is our client Mintos, who use a number of techniques to educate their users about Veriff and maximize conversions. Having a helpful IDV partner will make this process a breeze.

Moving beyond the topic of conversions, it’s important to look into market and ID coverage. Some providers offer a more diverse range of locaĺizations than others, with Veriff leading the industry (35 languages and open to more depending on client needs). 

If you’re in the digital or online world, then the idea is to be global. Make sure that the IDV provider you choose covers all of your markets. The number of supported countries among industry-leading IDV providers varies, with some providers covering around 100 and others over 190. 

But market coverage is not the same as ID coverage. 

An IDV software provider might offer wider country coverage but support fewer identity documents. Ideally, you want to maximize the number of IDs your clients can choose from to verify themselves. That is why Veriff supports 6,500+ government-issued IDs from 190+ countries.

Checking a user’s identity varies from a basic ID authenticity check to full-on biometric analysis, session tracking, and live recording the entire verification process. There is also a wide range of pricing models, integration options, and degrees of after-sale support depending on your provider.

When it comes to identity verification, a one-size-fits-all solution does not work.

Being able to select the thoroughness of an identity verification session has a huge impact on results. For every step in your customer journey you will experience drop offs, and by configuring the verification tools you use to include only the checks you need, you will be able to tick both boxes: conversions and compliance.

To give clients this level of flexibility, Veriff configures the decision-making technology behind our verification software for each client, enabling only the checks necessary to match their risk appetite. These “decision profiles” determine which data inputs to gather, what checks to conduct, what outputs to send to the client, as well as the extent to which we automate our IDV service.

Scalable pricing and free trials are a plus

Let’s say you already found several suitable providers, and all the information is ready to present to your team. The only missing piece, much to your CFO’s dismay, are the pricing details.

It’s hard to make a decision without knowing the costs and contract terms. Most IDV providers give out this information is only disclosed only after a sales call or even as late as after signing a non-disclosure agreement. Also, many IDV providers go with a minimum commitment contract that you won’t be able to get out of.  

Veriff aims for transparency as well as scalability, and you can have a look at our pricing plans here, which you can upgrade or cancel anytime. You can also try our service for 30-days free. No sales call needed, just sign up on our website and see how it works.

Integration options should cover mobile and web

Customizability in terms of integration options will make sure you are able to integrate an IDV provider with all the interfaces and platforms you use. Mobile SDKs for iOS and Android, API, and web integration options (including mobile) are standard but not guaranteed, so make sure you know what you need in advance.

While there are a lot of things to consider when looking for an IDV provider, the number one factor that will determine a positive or negative outcome is how willing your provider-to-be is to support you. 

Veriff goes beyond bug fixes and integration support. With the help of a dedicated account manager for all plans, we help you implement Veriff in a way that gives you the best possible results. Learn more about our product and pricing here.

Finding ID verification software (IDV) suitable for your company’s needs can be challenging. With the right approach, you can easily navigate the competitive IDV marketplace and find a tool that best matches your needs. Here's how. 

How to Choose the Right Identity Verification Software

When running a startup, growing your product and recruiting new customers can take all of your focus and time. Becoming a sustainable company might not be your top priority. 

Parallel to that, there is a false assumption that it's expensive to become an eco-friendly brand. Yet going green can help cultivate a better brand image, gain more customers, and save money.

Committing to becoming environmentally friendly shows your customers you are here to make an impact as well as profit. Going green demonstrates that your values extend to taking care of the environment you are a part of. 

There is a reason why 88% of business school students think that learning about social and environmental issues in business is a priority. Taking action towards becoming a sustainable company not only will help with the increasing ecological crisis but also with growing your business as well. 

According to a survey conducted by Futerra, nearly 90% of respondents said they prefer to invest in brands to help them make a difference. 

However, 43% of respondents in the same study claimed that companies make it difficult for them to make eco-friendly decisions. When choosing between using a service from two similar companies, with the only difference one of them being a sustainable business and the other not, they would most likely choose the business that helps them reduce their environmental and social footprint.

Companies that care about the environment are the future. People want to invest and be a part of sustainable companies, so why not do it.

Becoming an eco-friendly company is easier then you might think, here are some simple ways to do it and boost your brand as an eco-startup.

Nowadays, everything is becoming more and more digitized, and paperless age might not be far ahead. Going digital is progressively simpler every day, with more and more applications designed to replace the regular need for paper. 

Stickies on your MacBook are a great way to use as visual reminders, keep track of your tasks, and place for random ideas. Using task organizing platforms like Jira and Trello enables you to have an online Kanban board with the possibility to share it with your employees, enabling better communication and an easy way to adjust the tasks. 

The magic of digital signatures and cloud-based tools

Use tools like Google Docs for collaborating in real-time, sharing meeting notes, and giving feedback on projects the same way you would on paper. 

When running a business, you will always have to deal with a large number of documents, like invoices and contracts. A great way to save paper is to create digital documents instead of printing, using e-signatures to finalize contracts, and cloud storage and hard drives to manage paperwork.

Using cloud services instead of paper saves you office space and money, and fewer cities do this better than Dubai. As many as six separate Dubai government sectors have cooperated and managed to cut down on 27 million sheets of paper a day. All it took was moving their operations to a digital space. 

2. Say goodbye to plastic (#GoodbyeBadBag)

One of the most pressing environmental issues of today is plastic pollution.

The production of disposable plastic products is increasing, while we still don't have a clear solution on how to deal with this waste. Every year, about 8 million tons of plastic waste escapes into the oceans from coastal nations. At the same time, our landfills are getting bigger and bigger, storing all the waste and polluting the soil around it. 

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