Brazil’s Digital Regulator Invites Comment on Updates to Age Verification Guidance
Brazil’s data protection agency (ANPD) opened a public consultation through July 9 to update its Age Verification Guide, expanding rules for biometric and other age‑assurance methods. The draft clarifies a “digital chain of responsibility,” requiring app stores to provide age signals and platforms to enforce them. It stresses privacy‑preserving techniques such as zero‑knowledge proofs and adopts a risk‑based, proportional framework. By aligning with emerging international standards, the guidance will tighten compliance expectations for services targeting children and adolescents.
Digital Identity Must Be Built for Interoperability From Day One, Says Margins CEO
At the ID4Africa 2026 AGM, Margins ID Group CEO Moses Kwesi Baiden warned that national digital identity systems only deliver value when built for interoperability from day one. He highlighted the pitfalls of fragmented, siloed ID databases that inflate costs...
Indonesia, PNG Join 50-in-5 as Digital Public Infrastructure Push Expands
Indonesia and Papua New Guinea have joined the 50‑in‑5 campaign, linking their digital identity, payments and data‑exchange programs to a global push for digital public infrastructure. Indonesia contributes its Identitas Kependudukan Digital (IKD) platform serving roughly 280 million people, while PNG brings...
Malaysia Mandates Age Checks for Social Media Users, ID Verification for Advertisers
Malaysia's National Cyber Security Agency has made age verification mandatory for all new social media accounts, barring users under 16. Verification uses the MyKad smart ID and live facial biometrics through the MyDigital ID platform, which confirms age without storing...
Thales Supplier Linxens Comes Under Scrutiny by UK’s Labour Party
Linxens, a French supplier of biometric passport inlays for Thales, has come under scrutiny after the UK Labour party highlighted its ownership ties to Chinese private‑equity firms placed on the U.S. Entity List. The Chinese investors, Wise Road Capital and...
IDenfy Expands Reusable Digital ID Offering with Denmark’s MitID
iDenfy has added Denmark’s MitID to its reusable digital identity suite, bringing the total supported e‑ID types to more than 60 across Europe. The integration follows a trend toward credential‑based onboarding and leverages MitID’s near‑universal adoption among Danish adults. iDenfy...
Idex Appoints New CEO as Biometric Card Maker Seeks Commercial Traction
Idex Biometrics announced that COO Kjell-Arne Besseberg will assume the roles of chief executive officer and interim chief financial officer, while founder Anders Storbråten moves to executive chairman. The Norwegian firm reported a record order backlog of NOK 23.4 million (about $2.3 million),...
GLEIF, BIS Test vLEI as Trust Layer for Cross-Border Open Finance
The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) partnered with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) to pilot verifiable Legal Entity Identifiers (vLEI) as a trust layer for cross‑border open finance. The Aperta prototype linked open‑finance networks in the UK, UAE,...
Yoti Challenges Academic Research, Invites Independent Audit of Age Assurance Platform
Yoti, a leading age‑verification provider, publicly disputed academic research from Georgia Tech and UC Irvine that alleged its platform shares facial images and device data with third parties. The company issued an open letter denying the claims and invited the...
US Probe Puts Prediction Market Identity Controls Under the Spotlight
The U.S. House Oversight Committee has opened an inquiry into prediction‑market platforms Polymarket and Kalshi, demanding records on identity verification, geographic controls, and suspicious trading. The probe follows the indictment of an Army sergeant who allegedly profited $409,000 by betting...
Age Assurance Landscape Diverging Between US, Everywhere Else
The United States is seeing a patchwork of state‑level age‑assurance bills, while the EU, UK, Canada, and Australia move toward unified regulations. Minnesota recently enacted a law requiring parental consent for users under 16 and banning addictive features, prompting NetChoice...
ID4Africa’s Joseph Atick on Why Africa Is Setting the Pace for Digital Identity
At the ID4Africa 2026 AGM in Abidjan, Dr. Joseph Atick highlighted Africa’s rapid ascent as a global leader in national digital identity deployment and cross‑border interoperability. He argued that the continent’s success stems from building sustainable digital‑identity ecosystems rather than...
US States Deepen Mobile ID Rollouts as Focus Shifts to Verification and Privacy
Mobile driver’s licenses are moving from pilot projects to core identity infrastructure across the United States. Arkansas has become the latest state to add its licenses to Apple Wallet, joining earlier Google and Samsung Wallet support. Illinois, Connecticut, and Arizona...
Sweden Authorizes Police Use of Live Facial Recognition
Sweden's parliament approved a law allowing police to deploy live facial recognition (LFR) in cases of kidnapping, human trafficking, serious crimes and imminent threats to life. The measure, slated to take effect on July 1, 2026, requires court authorization except...
Vietnam Approves Sweeping Plan to Turn VNeID Into National Digital ‘Super App’
Vietnam's deputy prime minister approved a sweeping roadmap to transform the VNeID digital identity app into a national super app, covering 2026‑2045. The plan aims to enroll all citizens, foreigners, agencies and organizations onto electronic ID accounts, integrate payment wallets,...