Facebook Acquires Biometric ID Verification Startup

Facebook is acquiring Confirm.io, a US startup specializing in multi-factor digital authentication.

Based in Boston, the startup is just three years old, but has made a name for itself with its mobile-based, biometric ID verification technology, which uses facial recognition to verify end users’ government-issued identity documents. The firm made perhaps its first big splash in the authentication industry in early 2016 when it partnered with MorphoTrust (Safran), one of the firms that subsequently merged to form IDEMIA, to collaborate on SDKs and APIs aimed at the enterprise market. Confirm.io was also prominently involved in last year’s inaugural K(NO)W Identity Conference, further raising its profile.

Neither Confirm.io nor Facebook have revealed the terms of the acquisition. As for its rationale, Facebook has said only that Confirm.io’s “technology and expertise will support our ongoing efforts to keep our community safe.” Facebook has lately taken noteworthy biometric measures in its efforts to verify users’ identities, including facial recognition systems aimed at authenticating suspicious accounts and notifying users’ when their images are uploaded to Facebook by others.

In a statement on its website, Confirm.io said the acquisition is “the culmination of three years of hard work building technology that will keep people safe and secure online,” adding later that joining Facebook is “the next step on our journey”. In the meantime, the company says it will be winding down its current authentication software offerings.

Sources: TechCrunch, Gizmodo

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January 24, 2018 – by Alex Perala