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Welcome to ID Tech’s digest of identity industry news. Here’s what you need to know about the world of digital identity and biometrics today:

VA Pilots CLEAR Sign-In for Veterans on VA.gov

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has launched a pilot adding CLEAR as a sign-in option for VA.gov, enabling veterans to access their accounts online or in person at six medical centers using the CLEAR1 identity platform deployed alongside systems integrator GDIT. Veterans complete a one-time identity verification using a government document and biometrics, after which subsequent logins require only a selfie, providing an alternative to existing Login.gov and ID.me credentials to reduce account recovery and verification friction. The service is free and optional, backed by Kantara Initiative certification at NIST IAL2 and AAL2 standards, with dedicated in-person enrollment pods established at VA medical facilities in Brooklyn, Washington, D.C., Palo Alto, Decatur, Orlando, and San Juan.

CBP Says Facial Biometrics Have Verified More Than 1 Billion Travelers

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that its biometric entry-exit program has verified over 1 billion travelers across international air, land, and sea ports of entry using facial comparison technology. Since 2018, the system has identified more than 600,000 visa overstays and intercepted over 2,300 impostors, with matching accuracy exceeding 98 percent across all commercial international arrival airports, 66 departure airports, 42 seaports, and all pedestrian border lanes. Backed by $673 million from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, CBP is actively expanding on-the-move facial processing to vehicle entry lanes, cruise embarkation, and Global Entry checkpoints while maintaining a policy of discarding photographs of U.S. citizens within 12 hours.

Union Biometrics Wins KRW 17.2 Billion Korean Army Access Control Contract

South Korea’s Army headquarters has awarded Union Biometrics a KRW 17.2 billion automated military access control contract to replace aging perimeter security gates at 34 units nationwide and install automated infrastructure at brigade-level bases by December 24. Representing 33.45 percent of the KOSDAQ-listed firm’s prior-year revenue, the urgent open tender covers integrated vehicle and personnel access control, standalone CCTV networks, server integration, and smart biometric gun cabinets that require dual fingerprint or vein authentication from soldiers and supervising officers. The deployment marks the company’s fourth consecutive Army access contract since 2020, addressing guard personnel shortages as the military transitions to automated, unmanned perimeter monitoring.

Sumsub Launches Reusable KYC Gateway With MiniPay as First Integrator

Identity verification provider Sumsub has launched its Reusable KYC Gateway, introducing reusable identity verification for self-custodial wallets with Opera’s MiniPay stablecoin wallet serving as the debut deployment partner. Operating across more than 70 countries with 20 million opened wallets, MiniPay users can verify their identity once with a document and selfie or link an existing Sumsub ID, subsequently granting consent to share their verified profile directly with connected payment partners, on-ramps, and card issuers without repetitive document uploads. Sumsub reports that early partner implementations have increased verification completion rates from 70 percent to 95 percent while cutting onboarding times by half across non-custodial decentralized platforms.

Complaints Over Refused South Korean Mobile IDs Rose 22-Fold in Three Years

Government data submitted to South Korea’s National Assembly reveals that complaints regarding refused or unusable mobile IDs increased 22-fold over three years, surging from 105 incidents in 2022 to 2,323 in 2025. Disclosed by lawmaker Jin Jong-oh of the Public Administration and Security Committee, the report highlights operational friction caused by incompatible verification systems, widespread reliance on visual screen inspections rather than cryptographic QR code scans, and inconsistent acceptance across state exams and private businesses despite KRW 69.1 billion in public investment. The audit also flagged a persistent security flaw on iOS devices where mobile driver’s licenses remain active and pass verification even after the registered USIM card is replaced.

Denmark Urges End to CPR-Based ID Checks After Breach Exposes 8.8 Million Records

The Danish government is instructing public authorities and private businesses to halt using CPR numbers as proof of identity after unauthorized actors abused a third party’s legal access to the Central Person Register to harvest records belonging to approximately 8.8 million people. The Ministry of Research, Education and Digitalisation and the Danish Agency for Public Security confirmed that exposed data includes names, addresses, and personal identification numbers, prompting police investigations and regulatory notifications to Datatilsynet. Officials are directing organizations handling high-risk transactions, account changes, and prescription collections to replace static CPR checks with MitID digital authentication, secure one-time codes, or in-person verification.

Bosnia’s Biometric Voter Checks Succeeded in Over 97 Percent of Cases, IDDEEA Says

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Agency for Identification Documents, Registers and Data Exchange reported that biometric voter identification achieved a 97 percent success rate during the country’s general election on October 4. Deployed across roughly 5,000 polling stations under a 74.5 million Bosnian mark contract with a Smartmatic-led consortium, the election marked the nation’s first full deployment of optical ballot scanners and fingerprint verification terminals linked directly to central civil registries. IDDEEA confirmed that central document and verification networks recorded zero system downtime throughout election day, successfully processing 1.4 million voters with isolated difficulties limited to damaged physical identity cards or unreadable fingerprints among elderly voters.

Spain’s Data Protection Agency Tells Councils to Justify Facial Recognition in CCTV Plans

The Agencia Española de Protección de Datos has issued formal regulatory warnings instructing two municipal councils that facial recognition must remain disabled in police CCTV networks until local authorities legally justify its necessity and proportionality for specific policing operations. Addressing planned public surveillance procurements—including a smart camera tender in the municipality of Hellín—the data protection authority ruled that the mere technical availability of artificial intelligence search functions and biometric facial detection does not establish legal necessity under GDPR. The regulator directed the municipalities to conduct comprehensive data protection impact assessments, set strict retention limits for biometric templates and metadata, and keep facial matching deactivated by default.

Côte d’Ivoire Launches Study for National Authentication Platform and Digital ID Wallet

The government of Côte d’Ivoire has initiated a feasibility study to develop a national digital authentication platform and digital ID wallet, aiming to establish a sovereign digital credential ecosystem with technical roadmaps scheduled for January 2027. Led by the e-administration project PARAE with financial backing from the African Development Bank, the project is evaluating trust architectures, data minimization principles, and multi-level assurance frameworks across 620 public services. The planned system will integrate with the National Register of Natural Persons, civil registration agency ONECI, and national health insurance records, building upon existing digital identity cards and mobile credentials to eliminate redundant document submissions.

Dutch Lower House Votes for ID and Face Photo Checks on Sex-Ad Websites

The Dutch House of Representatives has voted in favor of a criminal code amendment requiring mandatory identity and same-day photo verification on sex-work websites to combat human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Passing as an amendment to the EU anti-trafficking directive bill with near-unanimous parliamentary backing, the measure mandates that commercial platform operators verify government IDs and same-day facial photographs for advertisers and individuals depicted in ads prior to publication, with photo checks repeated for every listing modification. Platforms must retain advertiser identifiers, payment records, and IP connection logs for two years for law enforcement inspections, with non-compliant operators facing up to one year of imprisonment or corporate fines tied to global turnover.

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By the ID Tech Editorial Team