In-Person Identity Verification Is About To Be Revolutionized
How and why the burden of identity verification will shift from the identity holder to identity verifier and why it is a good thing.
It is interesting to note how many times a day we need to verify our identity through countless different means. Everyday tasks such as driving a car (requires mag-stripe driver’s license card), making a payment(requires chip card), library visit (requires printed library card), fitness studio visit(requires bar code on keychain), workplace access (requires RFID card) etc. require some form of identification.
Two ways of in-person identity verification
The need for identity verification is universal. Usually there are two parties involved, the person who is identifying themselves (“Identity Holder”) and the person who is demanding the identity (“Identity Verifier”).
The situations requiring identity verification can be put into two broad categories based on the type of verifier. These situations are
- Where the identity verifier “knows us” and
- Where the identity verifier “DOESN’T know us.”
People who “know us” like family members, friends etc. don’t ask us for a secondary proof of identity when we are in front of them. They verify our identity by simply looking at us. This model is the natural order where the burden of proof of identity verification is on the identity verifier.
People who “don’t know us” typically use secondary proof of identification to verify the identity holder (even though the identity holder is present right in front of the identity verifier). This model is reverse of the natural order model and lays the burden of proof on the identity holder instead of the identity verifier.
The model where the burden of identity proof is on the identity holder is inconvenient, tedious, and in many instances broken. Unfortunately, given that there are more people who don’t know us, this broken model is the predominant model of ID verification.
We have all experienced situations where we have been victims of this inconvenient and broken model of identity verification. For example, we show up at grocery store only to find out we have forgotten our wallet at home; we arrive at the library without the library card; we drive half way to work to realize we left the key card at home. Worse, if one of these identity methods gets stolen, we freak out and take evasive maneuvers to protect ourselves; like cancelling credit cards or notifying security that our card is stolen.
The way of the future will be different
This is clearly not the way of the future. I believe, in the near future, our identity won’t require help from something that we carry with ourselves (like a piece of paper, a card or an electronic device). Instead, we will be identified exactly like the way we are identified by other people who know us personally. Just our mere presence will be the proof of identity.
How will our mere presence be enough?
So how will our mere presence be enough to prove our identity? There is one technology that can allow our identification to occur 100% visually without any secondary help; that technology is AI. I believe, in the future, people who don’t know us personally will be able to recognize us mainly through computer vision with the same confidence as our friends and family members do.
Computer vision will allow the shift of the burden of proof occur seamlessly from identity holder to identity verifier. There are three main reasons why I foresee this happening in the near future
1. Humans are used to being identified visually
As described earlier, natural order of identification is when the other party can identify you by simply looking at you. There is nothing new for humans to learn here, so universal adoption of natural order model will be frictionless.
2. Improvements in computer vision technology
There is tremendous amount of research and development happening in the field of computer vision. New techniques such as deep neural networks will allow visual verification through machines to match or exceed human visual identification in the near future.
3. Proliferation of low cost and high quality cameras
High quality cameras are not only cheap but also widely deployed in devices such as smart phones, tablets, surveillance cameras, laptops, cars etc. Presence of a critical mass of such devices in almost all aspects of life will make adoption of computer vision technology really easy.
A win win for everybody
This shift in burden of proof will be a win-win for everybody. Consumers won’t have to carry tedious cards, devices and printed papers with them anymore. Also, businesses will be able to provide seamless personalized services to their customers, employees etc.
Some might raise privacy concerns but that is a topic for another blog post.
