Smile Identity Blog

Mark Straub · 12 February 2018

Fighting Algorithmic Bias in A.I.

“A.I. software is only as smart as the data used to train it. If there are many more white men than black women in the system, it will be worse at identifying the black women.”

Mark Straub · 19 January 2018

How I Spent MLK Day — Online Airline Tickets in Africa

This can’t be the way of the future. As more Africans come online, travel and transact across borders there must easier ways to sufficiently prove your identity from any smart phone — including quickly completing a 2-factor or biometric authentication tied to a previously verified KYC — even from places like Niamey or Lagos.

Mark Straub · 3 January 2018

Building for Where it Matters Most

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 · 1 January 2018

Identity is Broken — Let’s Fix It

In a world where the services people want to access are increasingly provided through the cloud and controlled “above the API” (credit, ecommerce, payments, jobs and transportation) no one should be unable to prove their identity or be locked out of services. We can build solutions that allow access to the things we need, wherever we are, just by being ourselves.