A new cloud-based face verification system will be introduced in Singapore for its national identity scheme.

What makes this more special is that Singapore will be the first country in the world to implement this technology across such a system.

iProov, which is a UK company that specialises in authentication technology, produced the system to be integrated into SingPass – the country’s digital identity scheme. 

According to BBC News, this particular technology has already been in use at DBS – one of Singapore’s major banks. The bank has enabled its customers to use the technology to open an online bank account.

Going forward, it is thought that it will be used for verification at ports and in schools to verify that students are taking their own exams.

“We don’t really restrict how this digital face verification can be used, as long as it complies with our requirements. The basic requirement is that it is done with consent and with the awareness of the individual,” said Kwok Quek Sin, senior director of national digital identity at GovTech Singapore.