Online Identity Verification Takes Center Stage in Washington

Last Friday the US National Institute of Standards and Technology officially released their “National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace” (NSTIC), a plan intended to help industry create a standard for online identity credentials. Our friend Jim Kinchley, CEO of Trufina, was invited to participate in the proceedings and present on the ways Trufina is helping companies like Maven manage user identities, prevent fraud, and instill confidence in customers that they are dealing with “real people.”

Here at Maven, we’ve been harping on the idea of identity for a long time. And while we are not in a position to comment on the merits (technical or otherwise) of this specific plan, it is gratifying to see government begin to pay attention to this important issue. From the outset we have employed identity verification as a critical component of our fraud prevention platform, setting ourselves apart as the ONLY knowledge consulting provider capable of providing identity assurance to its customers. And it works- Maven’s Clients consistently tell us that our use of ID verification allows them to use Maven’s services and interact with our Members with confidence.

Let’s face it… in today’s world, identity matters. With all of the deception, evasion, and outright fraud taking place both online and offline, it is important to us as individuals that we can manage, protect, and prove our identity when needed. Think of all of the times in your daily life you need to show proper identification in order to conduct your business- whether it’s starting a new job, boarding an airplane, buying an alcoholic beverage, getting a prescription filled, or showing your license to the police officer who pulled you over for speeding (a recent personal experience…), we rely on standardized, accepted forms of identification to prove that we are who we say we are in the physical world. Isn’t it about time we had a reliable way to do this online?

It remains to be seen whether NSTIC is successful, but highlighting this important issue and showing willingness to support industry as we create new solutions is a huge step in the right direction.