UPDATED 20:49 EDT / JANUARY 23 2018

APPS

Facebook acquires online identity authentication startup Confirm

Facebook Inc. said today it has acquired Confirm Inc., a startup specializing in authenticating government-issued identity documents, for an undisclosed amount.

The social media giant isn’t saying what it intends to do with the technology. But the acquisition comes amid broader efforts by Facebook to confirm the identities of its users to protect their accounts and prevent people from using its platform to influence political elections. “Their technology and expertise will support our ongoing efforts to keep our community safe,” Facebook said in a statement.

Another use for the tech could be to help confirm user’s identities if they’re locked out of their accounts. Facebook has reportedly been testing a new feature that lets users access their accounts by taking a selfie.

Based in Boston, Confirm was founded back in 2015 and has raised $4 million in funding. The startup used that money to develop advanced forensics that can pull information from an ID card and combine it with facial recognition and other biometrics to confirm a person’s identity. The service then deletes that data to ensure it can’t be stolen by someone else.

Although the applications for the technology would appear to be widespread, most of Confirm’s customers use the platform as a means to speed up staff onboarding, TechCrunch reported. For example, the food delivery platform DoorDash Inc. uses Confirm to verify the identity of its drivers.

Confirm said on its website that it will now shut down its operations, as its staff relocates to join Facebook’s team. The company had boasted more than 750 clients prior to the acquisition.

“This is the culmination of three years of hard work building technology that will keep people safe and secure online,” Confirm wrote on its website. “Now, we’re ready to take the next step on our journey with Facebook. However, in the meantime this means all of our current digital ID authentication software offerings will be wound down.”

It’s not immediately clear what Facebook intends to do with Confirm’s technology, but the social media giant has been under pressure to stop foreign agents using its platform to influence political elections. Last year, Facebook said that Russian agents had paid to boost Facebook posts in the U.S. in an attempt to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, though Russia denied that’s the case. Facebook later responded by saying it would require ad posters to prove their identities, and Confirm’s tech would surely help to facilitate this.

Image: Confirm.io

A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Support our open free content by sharing and engaging with our content and community.

Join theCUBE Alumni Trust Network

Where Technology Leaders Connect, Share Intelligence & Create Opportunities

11.4k+  
CUBE Alumni Network
C-level and Technical
Domain Experts
15M+ 
theCUBE
Viewers
Connect with 11,413+ industry leaders from our network of tech and business leaders forming a unique trusted network effect.

SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation serving innovative audiences and brands, bringing together cutting-edge technology, influential content, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios — such as those established in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) — SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology, and AI. .

Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a powerful ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands, with a reach of 15+ million elite tech professionals. The company’s new, proprietary theCUBE AI Video cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.