DocuSign, Microsoft Azure Move to Improve Facial Liveness Detection

As artificial intelligence (AI) makes deepfakes a greater concern to consumers and companies, fresh efforts are afoot to combat these highly convincing but fraudulent images.

DocuSign announced in a Tuesday (July 25) press release the launch of its enhanced identity verification offering, Liveness Detection for ID Verification. This feature is a part of DocuSign’s Identify portfolio and uses AI-enabled biometric checks to confirm that people signing documents are who they say they are and that their IDs are valid.

“At DocuSign, we don’t believe in the false trade-off between either efficiency or risk,” said DocuSign President Inhi Cho Suh in the announcement. “We’re infusing our entire product suite with AI to provide global customers with frictionless experiences that are smarter, easier and more trusted. Liveness Detection for ID Verification applies the power of artificial intelligence to live video selfies to provide the equivalent of face-to-face security without the inconvenience of showing up in person.”

Meanwhile, Microsoft touted its Azure AI Face Service in a July 18 blog post, calling it a “best-in-class face verification experience” that can verify someone’s identity against a government-issued ID such as a passport or driver’s license, making access to digital and physical services or account recovery easier and more secure.

Not only does the service guarantee a secure environment, but it also provides additional features that detect one or more human faces in an image, face detection to analyze attributes about each face such as head pose and facial landmarks, and face verification to differentiate between two images of the same person.

Microsoft said in the post its Azure AI Face Service will ensure businesses are well-equipped to provide the best security standards for their users and a solution tailored for businesses that are looking to streamline and ensure the integrity of their identity verification systems.

Proof, Not Spoof

In DocuSign’s case, the Liveness Detection for ID Verification solution is designed to provide businesses with comprehensive identity proofing layers that can help to improve trust, compliance and simplify the user experience.

Developed in partnership with identity verification firm Onfido, the tool also provides security with remote prevention of the use of fake documents, deepfakes or pre-recordings, and identity spoofing.

“The feature applies AI to live video selfies — taken by signers — to confirm that the signer taking the video matches the photo on their ID and that the face on the provided ID and the face in the selfie video match,” per the release. “Liveness Detection for ID Verification also confirms that there has been no spoofing detected, that the user was not using a fake webcam or an emulator, and that the signer is physically present at the time the video selfie was taken.”

Onfido CEO Mike Tuchen said in the release, “With instances of identity fraud on the rise, it’s never been more essential for businesses to ensure that their online customers are who they say they are. We’re excited to partner with DocuSign, which aligns with our goal of preventing fraud while simplifying the identity verification process for organizations across the globe.”