To identify a person isn't the same as to check his or her identity. A company can get a INEa photo or a CURP and still need to check that information corresponds to the person performing the operation.
Digital identity checks allow for collection and contrasting of different evidence to evaluate a person's identity at a distance. In Mexico, this process is especially important for companies that have customers, contracts, credit or have to integrate identification files.
But what does it really mean to verify an identity? What technologies are involved and how do we know if a solution offers necessary controls?
What's Digital Identity Verification?
Digital identity checks are a process by which an organisation checks information and evidence of identity using technological tools without necessarily requiring a person's physical presence.
It may include the review of official documents, data collection, consultations with authorized sources, biometric comparison and checks to evaluate the authenticity of capture.
It aims to help answer three questions:
- What identity does the person declare? The data and documents submitted.
- What evidence supports that identity? Documentary information and checks available.
- Do the person conduct the proceedings reflect his or her submitted identity? The link between an applicant and an identity reference.
These checks are complementary. No secluded technologies necessarily solve all three questions.
For an enterprise, digital identity checks should be regarded as a registration requirement only but as part of the process of client incorporation and risk management.
How does digital identity check work?
A monitoring process can integrate different phases, depending on the sector, aim and level of risk of the operation.
1. Collection and reading of identity documents
The process can start with the capture of an identification, as the credential to vote issued by the INE or a valid passport.
Using technologies OCR (Optional Character Recognition), information can be extracted from the document to facilitate its review and reduce manual capture.
Nevertheless, there's a fundamental difference: to get information from an identification doesn't mean to have confirmed its authenticity and its validity.
A complete solution should distinguish between document reading, document character review and additional checks that are effectively performed.
2. Validation of information and official consultations
Once data have been obtained, some solutions allow them to be tested with official or authorized sources, depending on the service and conditions of access.
In Mexico, queries related to the following may be relevant:
- CURP and RENAPO.
- Information and verification mechanisms available for INE.
- RFC and applicable consultations SAT.
Each consultation has a different range. To confirm the existence or consistency of a data does not automatically prove that the document submitted is genuine and that its carrier is its holder.
That was why it was important to know what source was consulted, what information was returned and how the result should be interpreted.
3. Facial biometric monitoring
Facial biometrics allow to compare face characteristics with a reference image.
In a digital incorporation process, a 1:1 facial comparison can evaluate the correspondence between a photo and a face caught during the session.
That comparison helps to establish the link between the applicant and the document submitted.
Nevertheless, an enabling result of face similarity does not replace the validation of the document or by itself guarantee that all the stated identity has been checked.
If you wish to deepen these differences, check our article about facial recognition and liveness detection.
4. Liveness detection or Life Detection
The face liveness detection analyzes signs of genuine presence during capture, with the aim of helping to detect some suplanting attempts.
Several forms exist, including active and passive liveness detections.
In passive mode, a person does not have to complete the challenges of movement characteristic of some active methods but should follow the necessary instructions for an appropriate capture.
The liveness detection and facial comparison have different functions: the first evaluates some capture characteristics and the second compares the face with a reference.
Both can complement documentary verification.
It is also important to consider that no secluded result should be interpreted as an absolute protection against photographs, videos, masks, deepfakes or injection attacks. The coverage depends on the controls and the threats assessed.
5. Results and verification file
The final step is to organize the results and evidence available so that the company can use them in accordance with its internal policies.
A file can be incorporated, depending on the configuration and services contracted:
- Identification data obtained during the process.
- Information and results of documentary checks.
- Facial comparison and liveness detection results.
- Research findings.
- Records of date, time and traceability of checks.
- Additional evidence required by the business process.
The file should be designed considering applicable personal data protection, security, access and maintenance requirements.
Technology provides evidence and the company is responsible for using it to make decisions that are appropriate to its activity.
Identification, verification and authentication: are they the same?
Although often used as synonyms, these concepts have different functions.
| Concepto | What does that mean? | Ejemplo |
|---|---|---|
| Identification | To declare or provide an identity | Capture name, CURP and data from a INE |
| Verification | Check evidence to support an identity | Review document and compare face with photo |
| Authentication | To check that someone trying to gain access or act corresponds to a previously linked identity | Validate an authentication factor to gain an account |
That distinction was important because a company could verify an individual's identity by inserting him as a client and later using authentication mechanisms to control his or her access to his or her services.
The necessary safety and monitoring will depend on the process and risk involved.
Why is it important to check Mexico's digital identity?
More and more organizations need to identify their clients without relying exclusively on physical documents or face-to-face visits.
Digital monitoring can support different objectives.
- To reduce risks of suplanting. It includes controls to evaluate whether a person is using document or information that they do not have.
- To improve client participation. Automated information collection and validation can reduce manual tasks and facilitate remote processes.
- To strengthen traceability. The documented results allow us to rebuild what verifications have been undertaken and what information was available at the time of a decision.
- Support identification obligations. In some sectors, the applicable provisions require the identification of clients, information collection and maintenance of datas.Technology can help to conduct and document some of these procedures.
Nevertheless, using a technological solution does not automatically amount to meeting all regulatory obligations and each organisation should review its appropriate framework.
To understand the regulatory scope of the client's knowledge process, check What's that? KYC and when's required?.
What companies need to implement digital identity checks?
The need to verify identities isn't exclusive to banks or financial institutions.
Financial institutions and SOFOMES
Companies offering financial services or financing may have to identify their clients, integrate files and enforce risk-based controls.
Digital verification can facilitate information collection and monitoring while applying and hiring financial products.
In a SOFOM, for instance, technologies can help to check the complainant's identity and gather documentary evidence.
The solvency assessment, credit analysis and authorization of financing remains the responsibility of the entity concerned.
Real Estate and Vulnerable Activities
Certain real estate operations can be subject to obligations to identify and prevent money-laundering, depending on activity and applicable legal considerations.
A digital identity solution can support integrating client information and organizing evidence for your files.
The specific requirements have to be determined by LFPIORPI and the provisions applicable to each activity.
Professional and notary services
In notary and recruitment processes, monitoring the identities of participants may be important to strengthen documentary controls and traceability.
Digital verification can be used as a support without replacing the formalities and responsibilities that law assigns to the faithful or to the professionals concerned.
Companies that hire remote services
Organizations that incorporate customers, providers or users through digital channels can also benefit from identity checks.
Technology allows to configure verifications as required by the business, without all sectors necessarily using the same procedure.
Digital identity monitoring and personal data protection
Implementing face biometrics or collecting an identity document involves privacy responsibilities.
In Mexico, the Federal Act on the Protection of Personal Data at the Possession of Individuals regulates the processing of personal data by individuals in the cases referred to by law.
The following are some of the points to be assessed by an undertaking:
- The aim and legitimacy of treatment.
- The applicable privacy notice.
- To obtain consent as appropriate and as required by law.
- Security measures to protect information.
- Access, maintenance and disposal of data.
- The rights of incumbent persons.
In particular, biometric data processing requires an analysis of their nature, aim and context to determine applicable obligations.
The choice of a platform should consider both technological capabilities and information governance.
How to choose a digital identity check solution?
Before hiring a supplier, a company should evaluate more than the ability to capture documents or to recognize faces.
Here are some best questions:
- What do you really check? A distinction should be made between extraction and production. OCR, documentary analysis, facial comparison, life and official consultations.
- What sources do you use? It was important to know the scope and conditions of each consultation and its potential results and incidents.
- What evidence did you give up? The company should know what information can be consulted, preserved or exported according to its obligations and needs.
- How are the unfinished results handled? Reattempts, capture errors and manual revisions should be part of the operational design.
- What are the modalities for implementation? Not all companies need to integrate a APISome require a web platform and some require to have verifications directly into their systems.
- How do you protect personal data? Responsibilities, safety measures and conditions of treatment should be reviewed.
The best process isn't necessarily that using more technologies but that applying appropriate controls to both goal and risk.
Digital identity check with JAAK
In JAAK We develop digital identity solutions that allow companies to gather and evaluate evidence for their client incorporation processes.
Our offer includes skills such as:
- Capture and documentary reading using OCR.
- Facial biometric comparison 1:1.
- Passive face liveness detection.
- Validation of information and official consultations available by service.
- Organization of results and evidence of the process.
The concrete functions depend on the product, the configuration and the modality contracted. Identification with JAAK.
Web platform and technological integration
JAAK offers different ways to use your solutions.
- Plataforma Web (Autoservicio): allows to operate from the platform and to use available channels to send check applications without an integration API or SDK.
- Integration API or SDK: It aims at organisations that need to integrate identity monitoring capabilities into their own applications or processes and their availability and conditions are determined as they have been contracted.
Both modalities seek to meet different needs: from companies that need to start monitoring identities through a web tool to organisations with more technological complexity operations.
Frequently Asked Questions about Digital Identity Verification
Can an online identity be verified in Mexico?
Yes. There are solutions to capture documents, check information and conduct biometric comparisons at a distance. The scope of monitoring depends on the mechanisms used and the requirements of each operation.
Validate a INE That's the same as checking his identity?
No. Validation of the identification is a possible part of the process. To check the identity may require an additional check of the link between the document and the person submitting it.
Is facial biometrics required?
No universal obligation exists to use face biometrics for all companies and operations. The requirements depend on the sector, applicable provisions and the appropriate identification procedure.
The monitoring of CURP completely confirms the identity?
No. CURP can help check for registration information but does not itself prove that whoever provides the data is its holder.
Do a digital check replace the obligations of KYC?
No. Digital monitoring can be part of a process KYCbut this may include other activities, such as client knowledge, risk classification, information review and monitoring under applicable obligations.
Is it possible to integrate identity checks into an enterprise system?
The solutions with API or SDK they may allow for the incorporation of verification functions into existing applications, as required by their technical and commercial conditions.
Digital confidence begins with an identity that can be verified
To get an ID isn't enough if an operation requires to check who's on the other side.
For companies that have remote customers, digital identity checks allow to interrelate biometric documents, data and evidence within a structured process.
The difference is between information and evidence to evaluate it.
In JAAK We help organisations to integrate information and information technologies into their operations.
Know our digital identity monitoring solutions and discover what modality suits your company's needs. Request a demonstration.
Technical and regulatory references
- NIST SP 800-63A-4 The guide serves as a technical reference, not as a general Mexican obligation.
- The Federal Act for the Protection of Personal Data at the Possession of Individuals - Reformed text of 14 November 2025.
- GAFI: Guidance on Digital Identity - Guidelines about digital identity in due diligence processes.