Nigeria’s Youverify granted two ISO certifications to ensure biometric data protection

Nigerian technology company Youverify, which deals with biometric identity verification and other digital identity solutions, has secured two key certifications from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), making it the first African technology firm south of the Sahara to achieve that feat.

The outfit, based in the commercial city of Lagos, has been awarded the ISO 27018 and ISO 27001 certifications. ISO 27001 is an international standard that indicates that a company meets up with the specifications of information security management systems, while the ISO 27018 shows that the firm has the capacity to implement measures to protect Personally Identifiable Information, which includes biometrics, as per privacy principles for public cloud computing environments.

Youverify Chief Executive Officer Gbenga Odegbami said the certifications underline the company’s commitment towards maintaining improved quality standards and processes.

“We are glad we have gotten to this stage. Most importantly, we are committing to running a system that is defined by a consistent improvement, review and engagement of our processes to provide the best in-town services to our customers” a news report by Nigerian technology portal, technext, quoted the Youverify CEO as saying, in response to the certification announcement.

True to its pledge of helping solve Africa’s identity problem, Youverify has, since its creation less than three years ago, been helping businesses to automate due diligence and compliance processes. They offer services such as identity fraud detection, digital identity, online and offline identity verification with facial recognition, and asset verification all in a bid to help enterprises make automated and efficient business decisions. Their solutions are mostly used by companies in the telecommunications and financial services sectors. The company verifies more than 100 million entities and their physical addresses in Africa, according to information on the company website.

In March this year, Youverify said it had raised a $1.5 million seed round with the help of Orange Digital Ventures Africa, to enable it expand its growth and services across Africa and the Middle East.

Article Topics

biometric data  |  biometrics  |  certification  |  data protection  |  identity verification  |  ISO standards  |  Nigeria  |  Youverify