Shufti Pro CEO testifies in support of Improving Digital Identity Act at Congressional Hearing

Shufti Pro CEO Victor Fredung explained the need for a unified framework for digital identity in the United States due to the various ID documents and regulatory regimes around the country at the recent Congressional Virtual Hearing on digital identity.

Fredung expressed his support for the recently-reintroduced ‘Improving Digital Identity Act of 2020,’ and advised Congress to keep tabs on the development of blockchain technology for data sharing and storage, though the technology is currently maturing.

The Hearing, on the theme of ‘I Am Who I Say I Am: Verifying Identity while Preserving Privacy in the Digital Age,’ included discussion of the future of digital identity, how to protect personal data and digital privacy, and how to make artificial intelligence more inclusive and diverse.

“We strongly suggest the pursuit of a universal framework that each state (in the US) needs to follow when it comes to the selection of ID documents and a unified requirement when it comes to what information needs to be verified and how verification should be performed in all states,” stated Fredung.

Rep. Bill Foster, a primary sponsor of the proposed Act, noted that the FTC received more than 1.3 million complaints related to identity theft in 2020.

Fredung in response stated that Shufti Pro has been using AI and machine learning to perform identity verification, including ID document authentication, biometric liveness detection and optical character recognition (OCR) to catch ID fraud and identity thieves at a rate of nearly 99 percent.

Advisory and government relations firm DiRoma Eck & Co. LLP assisted Shufti Pro in securing the opportunity to speak during the hearing, according to a company announcement.

Shufti Pro also recently picked up a pair of awards for its biometric KYC and anti-fraud technologies.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  data protection  |  digital identity  |  fraud prevention  |  identity verification  |  regulation  |  Shufti Pro  |  standards  |  U.S. Government