Today’s agreement by Australia’s State and Territory leaders to share driver’s licence photos with a national database reinforces the increasing importance being placed on identity authenticity.
At the Special Counter-Terrorism Meeting of the Council of Australian Governments in Canberra, leaders endorsed a range of counter-terrorism measures.
The federal database already has facial recognition ability of millions of Australians through passports, and now the uploading of driver’s licence pictures will enhance the ability for verification.
The Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said “”One of the most important issues … is to bring the use of biometric data into the 21st century. Police have been using for many years photo IDs on licences and on passports to enable identities to be verified but it has been operating … in a rather clunky, old-fashioned manual way.
“We have the finest minds. What we need to do is give those finest minds the technology of the 21st century.”
Yesterday the Federal Police Commissioner, Andrew Colvin, said “The idea of identity theft is a very real phenomenon in the community. The ability for somebody to assume an identity, the ability for someone to take on an alias, create documentation, is real. So this is really about how we can get identity verification as quickly as we possibly can.”
Verifying people’s backgrounds and identities
Cited recognises the significant risks to organisations of hiring or contracting people who are not who they say they are. Cited provides an online platform for verifying people’s backgrounds and identities and assists organisations to manage ongoing workforce compliance.
Cited’s Petra Nelson, Managing Director of Cited developer Bright People Technologies, said companies from all industries were becoming increasingly aware of the pitfalls inherent in not checking the veracity of their personnel.
“We’re hearing more and more about issues such as cybersecurity breaches and forged or stolen identities, and organisations need to have peace of mind about the integrity of their workforce,” she said.
“Increasingly, the onus is on individuals to prove themselves, and ensure they are job-ready, with their work credentials checked and valid.”
Cited provides checking and verification services across a range of information, including National Police Checks, Visa Checks, Driver Licence Checks and industry qualifications and certifications.
Cited, one of the only checking software providers to collect photo identification, is a member of the Biometrics Institute, an independent international organisation that leads the debate on the responsible use of biometrics. Register your business.