More than 530,000 individuals completed in 2024 the Advance Travel Authorization (ATA) applications issued by the Department of Homeland Security, verifying, among other things, biographic and biometric information of the applicant.
The number of passengers accessing the USA by air increased by 6.9% in the period from December 2023 to the same month in 2024, making it the fastest growing travel mode, ahead of private vehicles and commercial trucks.
The Soccer World Cup to be held in the USA in 2026 will test the ability to verify the identity of millions of visitors in just a few weeks, making it imperative to use pre-boarding verification solutions.
Identy.io's biometric identity verification solutions directly contribute to streamlining border control procedures by facilitating the pre-verification of travelers, reducing the risk of fraud and reducing congestion at checkpoints.
According to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data, more than 936,000 people used their cell phones, and more specifically, the CBP One app, to expedite their admission and immigration procedures in the USA, by requesting an appointment to appear at one of the different access points to the country. In December alone, 44,000 people used this secure and efficient service to try to gain legal access to the country.
In this context, Identy.io, international leading company of biometric and digital credential management solutions, has updated its touchless identification of the user by fingerprint or face solution in response to the growing needs of public entities in charge of border control, and private companies in charge of travel reservations, which require secure and fast verification of the user's identity, even before boarding and travel.
In fact, it is estimated that in 2025 the number of attempts to access the country by air will multiply. Thus, air travel grew by 6.9% in December compared to the same month of the previous year, making it the most common mode of travel. A situation that will become even more complicated in 2026, with the Soccer World Cup being held in different venues in the USA, which will attract millions of travelers in just a few weeks. This major event will test the ability to verify the identity of visitors without increasing bottlenecks at checkpoints, so identity authentication at the source must be encouraged.
Likewise, more than 530,000 people applied for an Advance Travel Authorization (ATA) granted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through the end of December as a way to expedite and facilitate the process of obtaining a visa to enter the country prior to arrival. As part of this process, DHS conducts a thorough screening of applicants for residency, including, among other factors, biographic and biometric screening.
Identy.io's touchless biometric fingerprint or face solution with liveness provides an additional layer of security by verifying the identity of users in a way that is virtually impossible to forge. All this, from the user's cell phone, which can be provided with user-friendly solutions for pre-verification against the formalities required to apply for access to the country, thus reducing time and congestion at entry points. Government entities also find in these solutions an ally against identity theft and impersonation, since they can verify, from a mobile terminal, the identity of suspicious travelers, reducing dependence on centralized databases, which speeds up these procedures and improves their own security. The end user's data privacy is also enhanced by Identy.io's biometric verification solutions, as they maintain strict control over what information is being shared at any given moment, thus protecting against identity theft and forgery, as well as the malicious use of critical personal information.
According to Jesús Aragón, CEO of Identy.io, “we are fully aware of the challenge for border management agencies to verify that the person in front of them is who they say they really are, and to decide in a matter of minutes if they are eligible or not to enter the country. Our identity verification solutions with liveness aim to make this process faster, more cost-effective from an economic point of view, but without forgetting simplicity, effectiveness and security for the end user”.
One of the main advantages of Identy.io's proprietary technology is that the entire verification process is carried out on the mobile device itself, maximizing security at all times and reducing the risk of data loss or theft. As a response to the sophistication of the technology used in identity theft or forgery, which can replicate a fingerprint or face using artificial intelligence or a high-definition photograph, Identy.io has a technology that does not require the user to scan their fingerprint or face using a specific device, but can do so using the camera and flash of their phone, and can be integrated into any mobile application, all with a minimum margin of error. One of the solutions that make up the alternatives offered by Identy.io is fingerprint recognition with liveness, that is, with proof of life of the user, which makes virtually impossible, for example, the recognition of the fingerprint by means of a silicone mold or a high-definition image.
Identy.io's biometric identification fingerprint solution meet the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) digital identity management strategic guidelines by supporting eKYC (Electronic Know Your Client) processes and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) frameworks, as well as complying with the ISO 30107-3 standard for liveness, ensuring its security and accuracy.
Identy.io is already working with some of the world's public institutions in the development and implementation of different alternatives for user identity validation using touchless biometric technology, reducing the time and cost of implementation. According to Aragón, ‘with our proprietary technology and our experience as founding members of the FIDO Alliance, Identy.io is consolidating its position as a leading player in advance travel authorizations in the US. We remain firmly committed to the US border control institutions through our pioneering biometric technology development’.
About Identy.io
Headquartered in the US with offices in Brazil, Mexico, Spain and India, Identy.io is the global reference in digital identity verification using touchless mobile biometrics. At Identy.io we believe in multi-factor authentication, while advocating the need to replace traditional methods of identity verification using passwords, tokens or OTPs (One Time Passwords), which do not guarantee the user's identity.
At Identy.io we work with institutions to secure identity in their business processes by using touchless biometrics from users' mobile devices. Our liveness authentication protection makes biometrics secure and deployable on a large scale. For more information, visit https://identy.io