Even while technology has come a long way, there is still no one, surefire way to prove your digital identity.  Cybercriminals are getting smarter, rules are getting stricter, and customers still want smooth onboarding experiences.  Let's take a close look at the problems with identity verification around the world and why fixing them is important for the future of the internet.

 1. There is no global standard for identity documents.

 One of the most obvious problems is that there is no global identity format, no single government-issued digital identity, and no standard way to check documents.

 Every country, and sometimes even states within the same country, makes their own versions of

•  Cards that show your national identity

•  Licenses for drivers

• Passports

• Permits to live

• Papers for social security

Every document has its own:

•  Design that is one of a kind

•  Parts of security

•  Languages

•  Font

•  Watermarks

•  Barcodes

•  Chips that are built in

 A platform that brings in users from more than 70 countries may have to deal with hundreds of different formats.  It takes millions of samples and constant updates to train automated verification systems on this range.

 2. A lot of new ways to commit fraud are popping up around the world

 The world of identity theft has changed a lot.  Criminals don't just forge IDs anymore. Today's attacks are smarter, more advanced, and almost impossible for manual verification teams to find.

 Here are some of the most typical types of fraud:

 Fake IDs and changing documents

 Fraudsters make phony IDs that look almost exactly like real ones by using high-resolution printers, photo editing software, and templates from the dark web.

 Fake Identities

 Instead of using someone else's real identity, crooks make up new ones using mixed data:

•  Real social security numbers

•  Names that aren't real

• Fake addresses

 It's hard to find synthetic identities since they don't look like actual people, but they seem authentic on the surface.

 Fraud using deepfake and AI to impersonate someone

 Criminals increasingly employ AI to:

•  Make synthetic faces that look real

•  Copy voices

• Copy facial motions

•  Fake liveness detection

 Liveness detection used to only need simple head motions, but now it needs to be able to tell the difference between genuine users and digital fakes by looking at micro-texture, depth, and user behavior patterns.

 3. Checking by hand  Can't grow with demand

 Compliance staff used to undertake identity checks by hand.  But the needs for onboarding new users are growing very quickly.

•  Every hour, thousands of new people sign up for crypto exchanges.

•  Fintech platforms let people from all over the world sign up.

•  Digital banks check users without having physical branches.

 Verification by hand adds:

•  Holds

•  Mistakes

•  High cost of doing business

•  Not very accurate

•  Bias in people

•  Problems with scalability

 It could take a manual reviewer 5 to 10 minutes to check one person, whereas automated systems can check thousands of users in a matter of seconds.

 Companies that still do human checks fall behind their competitors that offer quick, automated verification.

 4. Laws around privacy and data protection are different in every country.

 Identity verification requires very private information.  But the laws for protecting data are very different.

 For instance:

•  The EU implements GDPR and eIDAS with rigorous limits about how much data can be collected.

•  The United States has both federal and state privacy laws.

•  India needs Aadhaar verification with stringent government control.

•  China makes people register their genuine names.

•  The Middle East requires local data storage.

 All of these things must happen at the same time on a worldwide platform.

 So, identity verification systems must make sure that:

•  Encryption of data that is safe

•  Keeping data to a minimum

•  Ways to get user consent

•  Storing data in a specific location

•  Logs of verification that can be checked

 This makes it hard to check someone's identification both legally and electronically.

 5. People expect more from their experiences than ever before.

 Users don't want to go through extended onboarding steps anymore.  They think:

•  Verification right away

•  No delays

•  No document reuploads

•  Processes that work on mobile devices

•  Easy-to-follow directions

 People who have to wait more than 2–3 minutes to do a task are likely to give up.

 It is very hard, nevertheless, to make a quick verification flow that doesn't put security at risk.  Companies need to find a balance between:

•  Safety

•  Correctness

•  Simple UX

 If verification is overly severe, real users are turned away.

 Fraud gets through if verification is too easy.

 6. Technology Gaps in New Markets

 Users still don't have:

•  Government ID systems that work

•  ID cards that are of high quality

•  Access to cameras with high resolution

•  Connections to the internet that are stable

 This makes it harder to get users from all around the world to join.  In some places, it's easy to falsify or write by hand.

 Checking  So, AI needs to change to:

•  Bad lighting

•  Images with low resolution

•  Text that is blurry

•  ID forms that aren't standard

 Companies that want to get into new markets need to put money on verification technologies that are more versatile.

 7. The costs of setting up your own verification system

 Building identity verification technology in-house costs a lot of money.  Businesses need to put money into:

•  AI that can read documents

•  Algorithms for biometrics

• Engines for finding fraud

•  Databases of documents from all across the world

•  OCR technologies that work in more than one language

•  Detecting liveness

•  Infrastructure for storage

•  Full compliance teams

 This might cost millions of dollars every year.

 Most businesses, especially new ones, choose to use third-party verification services.  This lowers costs, but it also makes people dependent.

 8. A lot of new hires at once

 Some sectors have unpredictable verification needs:

•  Cryptocurrency exchanges during bull markets

•  Platforms for trading during times of high volatility

•  Banks starting fresh campaigns

•  Online shopping sites over the holidays

 AI verification systems need to be able to withstand abrupt spikes without slowing down or losing accuracy.

 9. Financial Crime Across Borders

 Criminals often work in more than one country, using:

•  More than one SIM card

• Different IP addresses

•  Fake VPN sites

•  Email addresses that are only good for a short time

 This makes it hard to spot trends that seem suspicious.

 Verification platforms need to keep track of:

•  Fingerprints for devices

•  Signatures for browsers

•  Geolocation errors

•  Strange behaviors

 This makes things much more complicated.

10. The Future: Moving Toward a Digital Identity for Everyone

  The future seems good, even though there are problems.   Many countries are working on making digital identity systems, such as:

•   India's digital ID is called Aadhaar.

•   The EU's eIDAS 2.0 Digital Wallet

• The Singapore SingPass

•  The UAE's framework for digital identity

  A universal digital identification could make it easy to check items one day.

  Conclusion: The Next Steps

  Checking someone's identity is one of the hardest but most vital things to do to keep your digital life safe.   The world is swiftly moving toward a more digital economy, but identity systems haven't kept up.

  The biggest problems are:

•   Different types of IDs in different parts of the world

•   More and more fraud is using AI

•  Very tight rules that preserve privacy

•  Need for quick proof

  Everyone doesn't agree on the same standards for identification.

  At Savora, we seek to fill this vacuum by offering safe, verified accounts on major platforms so that people and businesses may interact with each other with trust.