150 years of identity proofing
We are the government agency responsible for verifying New Zealanders are who they say they are – and helping Kiwis prove their identity overseas and at home.
For more than 150 years, we’ve done this by registering births, deaths and marriages, granting citizenship and issuing official documents like birth certificates and passports, which are recognised and trusted worldwide.
Identity verification in the digital age
As the world moves online, our work is going digital too.
In 2013, we launched RealMe login and RealMe verified identity as New Zealand’s first digital identity services.
The services are designed to make it easier to engage with government online.
With RealMe login, you have the option of using a single login to access a range of government services online.
With RealMe verified identity, it’s easier to safely and securely prove your identity to government agencies and others, without compromising the privacy and security of that data.
Designing the next generation of services
We have learned a lot from RealMe over the past decade and as we continue to modernise the login and verified identity services for the future.
We know more people want convenient, low-cost and trusted ways to prove their identity online.
Government agencies, organisations and businesses want that for the New Zealanders who use their services, too.
We know that today, more than ever, New Zealanders want digital identity services they feel confident will protect them against serious risks like algorithmic bias, identity fraud and cyber-crime.
Innovation in identity proofing
Identity Check
In 2022, we launched Identity Check as a pilot, before rolling out the service as a reusable digital component for wider government use.
In time, we’re aiming to make it work for the commercial sector too.
Using liveness technology and one-to-one facial recognition, Identity Check is designed to verify the identity of a user in real time as part of an online application process.
It’s convenient and low-cost for users and can be done using a phone or personal device from anywhere and at any time of the day.
As a result, there’s no need to complete the verification process in person or handover paper identity documents – or wait on DIA to rubberstamp your application before you can use the service.
Verifiable Credentials
Verifiable Credentials is another service we’re developing.
It’s different to our other services and works by issuing a user’s identity data directly from DIA’s secure data sources to a secure digital wallet set up on a user’s personal device.
With this service, it’s up to the person who owns the data to decide what data they want to receive and store on their device and what data they want to consent to share.
We’re excited to pilot this service for students through a partnership with MyMahi, a commercial e-platform provider. Though, we see much wider application for this service over time.