Regulation in Austria embraces Artificial Intelligence for Online Identification

Munich, 06 February 2019. Austria Is Establishing Itself as a Pioneer in Europe and Focusing on Innovative Technologies by Authorizing Automated Identification Procedures in the Telecommunication Industry

With the approval of this fully automated process, telecommunication providers can optimally reconcile security requirements with customer convenience and cost efficiency.

IDnow welcomes this newly passed regulation and is optimally positioned with its leading AutoIdent product to offer companies the ideal solution.

Austria on the Leading Forefront: New Regulation supports AI-based Digital Identity Verifications

Since January 2019, a new regulation (Identification Ordinance, IVO) of the Telecommunications Act has been in force in Austria. The reasons for the change were above all security policy motives: in the past, prepaid cards could be purchased in Austria without personal registration both in retail and online. A circumstance that organized crime and terrorists have benefited from so far.

This gap has now been closed with the newly passed law: Since the beginning of the year, individual identification is required during the purchase of prepaid cards. For existing prepaid customers, there is still a transitional period until September 2019. Thereafter, when recharging the prepaid card identification with a photo ID is necessary.

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Innovative Fully Automated Process

Particularly noteworthy is the fact that the Austrian legislators allow telecommunication providers – in addition to presenting an ID card in the store and authentication via online banking – set out in §5 of the IVO, a lean online process that relies entirely on artificial intelligence.

The method relies on automation in the capture and readout of documents and requires mandatory automated verification of security features such as the detection of holograms.

An essential part of the process is also an automated face recognition via biometrics. For the identity verification, the user only needs to take a “selfie” with his smartphone. Then the photo is compared with the user’s ID. In addition, a “liveness detection” of the person is required which prevents the use of photos or videos.

The regulatory system in Austria enables the use of innovative and trend-setting technologies that meet the economic challenges of telecommunication providers.

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Automated Online Identification through Artificial Intelligence

As early as 2018, IDnow released its “AutoIdent” solution, which is based on artificial intelligence and fulfills all requirements of the new regulation. The identification is carried out completely automated, by reading the data from the identity document and a biometric comparison of the requesting person via the camera function.

“IDnow technology uses artificial intelligence to verify that all security features are present on the ID card and is therefore able to reliably detect forged identity cards,” says Armin Bauer, CTO & Co-Founder of IDnow.

If the data is verified by the technology, the process is complete. This usually takes less than 90 seconds for the user. The advantage for telecommunication providers is that they are now able to offer their customers a fast identification process that can be handled anywhere, anytime and from any device.

Fraud attempts, such as holding an image, are detected by 3D face recognition. The automated version also offers a much higher level of fraud protection compared to a shop-floor document review. IDnow’s AutoIdent product recognizes 193 international ID documents.

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