Identiq launches network for identity verification without data exchange and raises $5M

Israeli startup Identiq has announced the launch of its Anonymous Verification Network to enable business to take a collaborative approach to fraud prevention, as well as a $5 million Seed funding round to bring to market.

The funding round was led by Entrée Capital, with participation from Slow Ventures, Vertex Ventures Israel and Oryzn Capital.

Identiq offers membership in a distributed network which allows businesses to positively validate new users and vouch for their existing users without sharing any personal data. Verification can be performed at critical points in the customer journey, such as onboarding and first payment, by connecting data points such as email, phone number, address, IP, device, or funding source. The company says this results in more accurate decisions, low rates of declined transactions, reduced fraud, and a better customer experience.

The approach eliminates the risk of large databases of private user information being accidentally breached or stolen, and complies fully with GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy regulations, according to the announcement. Identiq’s Fully Anonymous Identity Resolution (FAIR) technology preserves complete consumer privacy by obtaining validation from network members with proprietary cryptographic protocols.

Interestingly, the decentralized network does not run on a blockchain. Identiq Co-founder and VP of Product & Research Uri Arad explains why in a Medium post, saying that blockchain’s public transparency, immutability, and replication of data introduces many risks that cannot be fully worked-around.

“Blockchain is poorly suited to manage identity data (or any other sensitive private data, for that matter),” Arad writes.

Article Topics

fraud prevention  |  funding  |  identity verification  |  secure transactions