Smile Identity Blog

Mark Straub · 12 February 2019

Building for Emerging Markets

As we’re building Smile Identity, I am often asked why we focus on markets outside the United States when identity and security are now such big topics in the U.S.

Mark Straub · 11 February 2019

The Future of Africa is Digital

As we get further into 2019, we’ll take a look at Africa’s Fintech sector, which is experiencing some of the fastest growth. We’ll cover the specific problems that leading fintechs are solving and how #digital identity, #GoodID and #KYC are key enablers of the financial inclusion behind Africa’s growth.

Mark Straub · 13 August 2018

The Responsible Use of Face Recognition Technology

Face recognition, fast enveloping life in China through CCTV cameras tied to government “social credit” systems which rank citizens based on their behavior, is only now receiving scrutiny from Americans and others. We are just waking up to the possibilities — powerful and sometimes frightening — that widely deployed face recognition can have.

Mark Straub · 5 April 2018

Update to “What Privacy Means”

“You go someplace with one person, but everyone else knows where you were (or still are), and when and with whom you went, because one of you had your face tagged in a photo taken by someone else in your network, and the location was shared.”

Mark Straub · 3 April 2018

What Privacy Means

At Smile Identity, we believe anyone should be able to prove their identity easily, anywhere in the world. Proving your identity generally involves sharing information about yourself. But just because you share data once with one party, doesn’t mean you should forfeit all rights to how your data is used in the future.

Mark Straub · 27 February 2018

Fraud vs. Friction

Start by creating an on-boarding experience that is simple and low-friction. Don’t block accounts for incomplete information, but rather, set up tiered levels of access.