Author: Pierre Remy

  • How Biometric-Bound Age Credentials Enhance Privacy In Age Verification

    Verifying age online is more complex than it seems, and much riskier when it fails. 

    In the real world, age checks involve physical presence, human judgment, and document inspection. But online platforms often rely on easily manipulated signals like device ownership or stored credentials. This allows children to bypass age restrictions using a parent’s phone, enables impersonation, and exposes businesses to legal, ethical, and reputational risks.

    At the heart of these failures lies a critical gap between identity and device trust. Traditional solutions like selfie-ID checks or document uploads raise new privacy concerns while failing to solve the core problem.

    This blog post introduces AgeCred: a biometric-bound age credential that proves not just that a user was verified, but that it’s the same person returning, without storing biometric data or exposing their identity.

    Read on to learn how AgeCred works, why it’s essential, and how it enables platforms, regulators, and trusted institutions to protect minors, meet compliance standards, and restore trust in online age verification, without compromising user privacy.

    Why Online Age Verification Is Harder Than Offline

    In-person age verification benefits from human judgment and physical inspection of ID documents. For example, a bouncer can compare the face in an ID with the person standing in front of them, spot fake IDs, and judge intent. By contrast, remote (online) authentication suffers from the “device-centric illusion”: trust is placed in the device, not the user. Once a digital credential is stored on a phone or tablet, anyone who unlocks the device can impersonate the holder.

    Friendly Fraud Example

    Imagine a child using a parent’s phone to access adult-only content online. The child can bypass safeguards simply by unlocking the phone with a passcode, bypassing the on-device biometric recognition altogether. Since current systems assume the device owner is the user, age verification fails. Multi-factor authentication (e.g., OTP via SMS or email) doesn’t help, because those messages are also delivered to the same compromised device.

    In contrast, in-person verification avoids these pitfalls by requiring the presence of the actual individual, inspected by a human agent. Online systems, lacking that physical presence check, are far more vulnerable to deception and misuse.

    How a Biometric Bound Age Credential (AgeCred) Works

    Abiometric-bound age credential (or simply age-bound credential, AgeCred) is a privacy-preserving digital certificate that proves a user is above or below a certain age without revealing their actual age or identity. When applied more generally, the technique is called biometric-bound credentials (BBCreds), a cryptographic mechanism that ensures only the legitimate user can activate their credential.

    Key Properties

    1. No stored biometrics: No biometric templates are saved anywhere — not on the server, not on the device.
    2. Cryptographic binding: A stable secret is generated from a live biometric sample (e.g., a selfie), used to encrypt the age credential.
    3. Liveness check: Real-time biometric capture (e.g., video or guided selfie) confirms that the person is physically present and not a spoof (e.g., photo or deepfake).
    4. Offline capable: The verification can happen locally on the device, without needing cloud-based comparison.

    Even Without an ID Card

    Children who do not have official ID can still receive AgeCred through age estimation methods or trusted third-party attestations, such as:

    • Age estimation via facial analysis (as guided by Ofcom, UK)
    • Verification by schools or health providers
    • Parental/guardian identity-linked enrollment with consent

    These flexible input methods allow for the issuance of trustworthy AgeCred even in the absence of traditional identity documents.

    Role of AgeCred in Practice

    Biometric-bound age credentials do not perform age verification by themselves — they perform secure, privacy-preserving authentication after age verification has already been done. Their role is to ensure that the same person who was verified originally is the one accessing the service.

    To be effective and trusted:

    • AgeCred should be used in conjunction with age estimation or verification mechanisms.
    • The original age check (e.g., using digital ID, facial age estimation, or telco data) is still necessary at registration.
    • Once issued, the AgeCred ensures the credential can only be used by the intended user, preventing friendly fraud.

    Because the biometric stable key ® is re-generated in real-time and never stored, AgeCreds that are unlocked by the key comply with GDPR and similar privacy frameworks. No personal data or biometric identifiers are stored or shared — making the system highly privacy-preserving and secure.

    Conclusion: Reinventing Trust in Online Age Verification

    Biometric-bound Age credentials (AgeCreds) provide a robust, privacy-compliant solution to one of the persistent challenges in digital identity: ensuring that the right person is present at the moment of access. 

    In an online world where device access does not guarantee identity, BBCreds bring back trust without compromising user privacy or storing biometric data. Used alongside reliable age verification techniques, they empower platforms to protect minors, enforce digital age compliance, and preserve user dignity..

    Let’s enhance privacy, trust, and compliance in your age verification strategy. Contact us at npoh@truststamp.net to explore how AgeCred can work for your platform.

  • Understanding Florida Driver’s License Scanning Issues—Causes & Solutions

    Certain Florida driver’s licenses issued since 2017 may fail to scan correctly due to a barcode printing defect. This issue affects approximately 1-1.5% of Florida IDs and can impact businesses that rely on automated ID verification, such as banks, hotels, and retail establishments.

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  • Understanding Florida Driver’s License Scanning Issues—Causes & Solutions

    Certain Florida driver’s licenses issued since 2017 may fail to scan correctly due to a barcode printing defect. This issue affects approximately 1-1.5% of Florida IDs and can impact businesses that rely on automated ID verification, such as banks, hotels, and retail establishments.

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  • Advancing Security with Biometric-Bound Credentials: A New Era in Digital Identity

    As we step further into the digital age, safeguarding personal and sensitive data has become paramount. Passwords, once the cornerstone of online security, are increasingly proving inadequate in the face of advanced cyber threats and usability challenges. In this landscape, hardware-based authentication methods like passkeys offer a promising alternative. However, they are not without their limitations. The pressing need for more versatile and secure solutions has led to the emergence of biometric-bound credentials—an innovative approach that promises to reshape digital identity management.

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  • Advancing Security with Biometric-Bound Credentials: A New Era in Digital Identity

    As we step further into the digital age, safeguarding personal and sensitive data has become paramount. Passwords, once the cornerstone of online security, are increasingly proving inadequate in the face of advanced cyber threats and usability challenges. In this landscape, hardware-based authentication methods like passkeys offer a promising alternative. However, they are not without their limitations. The pressing need for more versatile and secure solutions has led to the emergence of biometric-bound credentials—an innovative approach that promises to reshape digital identity management.

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  • Secure Authentication Is Only As Strong As Account Recovery: A Solution for Financial Institutions

    In 2024 alone, large-scale data breaches have exposed billions of user records, driving a sharp rise in account takeover (ATO) attacks—now one of the most prevalent and damaging types of online fraud. Recent industry reports indicate a 24% year-over-year increase in account takeover attacks in Q2 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Additionally, 24% of surveyed consumers reported experiencing an ATO attack within the past year, up from 18% in the previous year, reflecting a troubling upward trend in this type of fraud.

    Financial institutions are prime targets for account takeover (ATO) attacks, with fraudsters exploiting weaknesses in traditional account recovery processes, turning what should be a safety net into a vulnerability. 

    To stay ahead, financial institutions must treat account recovery as an integral part of their security strategy, ensuring it’s as robust and reliable as authentication itself. In this blog post, we explore how Trust Stamp’s Stable IT2 provides a transformative approach to account recovery, helping financial institutions protect their clients and stay resilient against evolving threats while meeting the growing demand for secure, seamless account management.

     

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  • Secure Authentication Is Only As Strong As Account Recovery: A Solution for Financial Institutions

    In 2024 alone, large-scale data breaches have exposed billions of user records, driving a sharp rise in account takeover (ATO) attacks—now one of the most prevalent and damaging types of online fraud. Recent industry reports indicate a 24% year-over-year increase in account takeover attacks in Q2 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Additionally, 24% of surveyed consumers reported experiencing an ATO attack within the past year, up from 18% in the previous year, reflecting a troubling upward trend in this type of fraud.

    Financial institutions are prime targets for account takeover (ATO) attacks, with fraudsters exploiting weaknesses in traditional account recovery processes, turning what should be a safety net into a vulnerability. 

    To stay ahead, financial institutions must treat account recovery as an integral part of their security strategy, ensuring it’s as robust and reliable as authentication itself. In this blog post, we explore how Trust Stamp’s Stable IT2 provides a transformative approach to account recovery, helping financial institutions protect their clients and stay resilient against evolving threats while meeting the growing demand for secure, seamless account management.

     

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  • Revolutionizing Wallet Security: How Stable IT2 Safeguards Your Users’ Seed Phrases

    As a crypto wallet provider, your users trust you with their digital assets—and by extension, their financial security. Seed phrases, the gateway to cryptocurrency wallets, are one of the most vulnerable elements in crypto management. With billions of dollars lost annually due to stolen or mishandled seed phrases, the responsibility to provide robust security is more pressing than ever. Trust Stamp’s Stable IT2 offers an innovative approach to seed phrase protection, empowering wallet providers to enhance security, earn user trust, and stay ahead in a competitive market.

     

    The Problem: Seed Phrase Vulnerabilities

    Seed phrases are powerful but inherently risky. They provide users with control and recovery options for their wallets but are often improperly managed, exposing them to numerous threats:

    • User Mismanagement: Seed phrases stored on paper can be misplaced, damaged, or lost entirely.
    • Phishing Attacks: Sophisticated scams lure users into revealing their seed phrases, often with irreversible consequences.
    • Insecure Digital Storage: Many users store seed phrases in cloud services, notes apps, or synced devices, which are frequent targets for hacking and malware.

    For wallet providers, these vulnerabilities lead to frustrated users, increased support burdens, and potential reputational damage. Addressing these risks requires innovative solutions that combine security with ease of use.

     

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  • Revolutionizing Wallet Security: How Stable IT2 Safeguards Your Users’ Seed Phrases

    As a crypto wallet provider, your users trust you with their digital assets—and by extension, their financial security. Seed phrases, the gateway to cryptocurrency wallets, are one of the most vulnerable elements in crypto management. With billions of dollars lost annually due to stolen or mishandled seed phrases, the responsibility to provide robust security is more pressing than ever. Trust Stamp’s Stable IT2 offers an innovative approach to seed phrase protection, empowering wallet providers to enhance security, earn user trust, and stay ahead in a competitive market.

     

    The Problem: Seed Phrase Vulnerabilities

    Seed phrases are powerful but inherently risky. They provide users with control and recovery options for their wallets but are often improperly managed, exposing them to numerous threats:

    • User Mismanagement: Seed phrases stored on paper can be misplaced, damaged, or lost entirely.
    • Phishing Attacks: Sophisticated scams lure users into revealing their seed phrases, often with irreversible consequences.
    • Insecure Digital Storage: Many users store seed phrases in cloud services, notes apps, or synced devices, which are frequent targets for hacking and malware.

    For wallet providers, these vulnerabilities lead to frustrated users, increased support burdens, and potential reputational damage. Addressing these risks requires innovative solutions that combine security with ease of use.

     

    (more…)

  • Best Practices for Exchanging Wire Transfer Information Securely

    Wire transfers are a frequently used method for transferring large sums between banks, especially in high-stakes transactions like real estate closings, legal settlements, and business acquisitions. However, their speed and convenience also make them a prime target for fraud and theft, often through business email compromise (BEC) and social engineering.

    Secure practices for exchanging wire transfer information are essential to protect all parties involved. To help reduce the risk of attack, here are the best practices for safeguarding wire transfers.

    Best Practices for Exchanging Wire Transfer Information Securely

         1. Limit Wire Transfer Details in Email Communications

         2. Implement a Multi-Step Verification Process

         3. Use Secure Channels for Communicating Wire Instructions

         4. Shift the Focus: Verify the Recipient’s Identity

         5. Exercise Extra Caution with Last-Minute Changes

         6. Document and Review Wire Transfer Transactions

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