Onfido Provides Biometric Identity Verification for Agora e-Voting Platform

Onfido will be providing secure identity verification for the blockchain e-voting company Agora. Through the new partnership, citizens will be asked to provide a selfie and an official government ID when using the Agora app or a dedicated voting machine. Onfido’s technology will then compare the selfie to the photo on that ID, only allowing the individual to cast a ballot once their identity has been confirmed.

Agora was previously used in Sierra Leone’s presidential election. According to Agora founder and CEO Leonardo Gammar, the company sought an authentication partner to limit the amount of data that passes through its own servers, which encourages privacy and lets voters know that Agora will not be collecting personal information or linking it to their ballot history.   

“We believe that the best way for an election technology provider to demonstrate their integrity is to limit their access to data management,” said Gammar. “We anonymize and shuffle ballots but also choose not to deal directly with voters’ IDs.”

“By partnering with Agora we’re able to open up voting to more people in more countries, making it more accessible, transparent and friction-free, and in turn, modernizing the democratic process,” added Onfido Co-founder and CEO Husayn Kassai.

Agora is one of several companies currently pioneering blockchain-based e-voting; Voatz, for example, is one that is primarily focused on the United States, facilitating elections in Utah, Colorado, and West Virginia. For Onfido, the news continues a strong 2019 campaign in which it posted 171 percent year-over-year sales growth for the second quarter.    

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September 24, 2019 – by Eric Weiss