Facebook purchased startup for remote verification of documents

Facebook purchased Confirm.io startup developed a service for remote identity documents verification. The deal was reported on the website of the company. Over 30 staff members of Confirm will now work in the Boston office of the social network. Details of the acquisition, including the amount of the deal, are not disclosed. Earlier, the startup attracted $ 4 million from investors. Probably Facebook rated Confirm much more expensive: the startup even refused all previous customers.

The initial goal of the startup was to create a safe platform for ID verification which will be a base for other multifactor verification tools on the online market.

With assistance of Confirm experts and their developments Facebook plans to identify customers for political advertising and prevent fraud. Until now it was necessary to provide several documents in order to confirm the identity and employees of the social network analyzed them manually. However, the constantly growing demand for advertising has caused an acute need for automation. Confirm software, providing such functionality, will now be integrated into Facebook's advertising services.

Interest in political advertising and its careful verification arose after the presidential campaign in the US in 2016. Facebook and Twitter reported dozens of accounts that posted ads with the intent to influence American voters. After the internal investigation, Facebook decided to provide more stringent control and will now require confirmation of the identity for the placement of political advertising.

An alternative approach is to use the account itself to verify the identity. It is used by the Chinese instant messenger WeChat. The application, which is used by more than a billion people, practically replaces ID, and its developers plan to integrate banking services in the future.