Kantara and SAFE Identity to support each other’s digital identity Trust Marks

Trust Framework Providers SAFE Identity and Kantara Initiative have reached a reciprocal agreement to consolidate digital identity assessments, each endorsing and supporting the other’s public key infrastructure (PKI) and non-PKI domain Trust Frameworks, along with their certified identity providers.

The collaboration simplifies digital identity assessment and Trust Mark processes for companies in healthcare, financial services and other sectors to reduce organizational risk.

“What we have done is agree to honor each other’s Trust Marks. Industry can now assess and manage digital identity more easily across both PKI and non-PKI domains when making risk-based decisions concerning the validity of someone’s digital identity credentials and providers’ services,” says Kantara’s Wallis. “Kantara always looks for ways to serve more value to its members through non-financial, non-exclusive collaborations such as this, in the furtherance of its non-profit mission. Instead of duplicating efforts, SAFE and Kantara are helping to expand the reach of our respective missions.”

Both SAFE Identity and Kantara certify trust in digital identity management services and solutions. SAFE is focussed on expanding and standardizing PKI-based credential use for identity, confidentiality and data integrity, particularly for the healthcare industry, while Kantara focusses on conformity assessments to legally recognized standards, along with standardization and non-PKI innovation.

GSA joins Kantara with plans to certify Login.gov

The U.S. Government’s General Services Administration (GSA) is joining the Kantara Initiative with plans to submit its Login.gov service for Kantara’s assurance and approval program to demonstrate compliance with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-63-3 Digital Identity Guidelines.

Login.gov provides simple, secure and private access to participating U.S. government digital services, according to the announcement, with 25 million people signed up to date.

The NIST SP 800-63-3 Guidelines set mandatory digital identity guidelines for U.S. Federal agencies conducting identity verification and authentication.

“NIST SP 800-63-3 is focused on modernizing the policy in keeping with rising threat levels for identity proofing, verification and authentication whilst also improving privacy in the overall digital user experience,” said Colin Wallis, Executive Director, Kantara Initiative. “Kantara has developed assessment criteria against each of 63-3’s normative requirements to drive consistency in assessments of applicable credential service providers (CSPs) done by Kantara 3rd party accredited assessors. Consistency in assessments drives long term integrity in Kantara’s Trust Framework and Trust Marks internationally, thereby building trust and confidence for all stakeholders in the wider digital economy.”

Article Topics

authentication  |  biometrics  |  certification  |  digital identity  |  identity management  |  identity verification  |  Kantara  |  NIST  |  NIST Special Publication 800-63  |  PKI  |  privacy