Upgrading Your Compliance: How Identity Screening Safeguards Hiring

The Importance of Identity Screening

With the rise of AI, there is no shortage of both optimistic and “sky is falling” narratives. To build any reliable model of the future, we must look to current trends and fill in the blanks from there. While there is tremendous technological upside, there are likely drawbacks to this rapid advancement, particularly in hiring.

It’s anticipated that the hiring landscape will see a significant rise in fraud in the coming years. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2028, 25 percent of all candidate profiles could be fake. When paired with the accelerated governmental crackdown on U.S. employers who hire undocumented workers, this picture becomes doubly concerning. More than ever, employers need a way to ensure identity documentation is validated and duly matched to an individual, perhaps even before the I-9 process. 

Identity Screening As Part of Your Background Screening Process

At Peopletrail, we integrate a product that utilizes biometric matching and cryptographic verification into the screening process to help employers have even more confidence in their hiring outcomes.

This identity screening component is seamlessly integrated into the applicant authorization and disclosure process, allowing individuals to verify their identity before submitting the background check for processing. This identity screening piece boasts a 99+ percent success rate and typically takes under two minutes.

How It Works

1. The candidate receives a background screening request from Peopletrail via email, with a link to provide additional information, consent and authorization, and complete the identity screening process.
2. During the identity screening portion, the candidate is prompted to provide a live photo taken on their device, which will include motion capture, such as eye blinks.
3. The candidate will be prompted to take a photo of a verifiable credential such as a passport or driver’s license.
4. The system uses automated fraud-detection algorithms as well as cryptographic analysis to help determine ID authenticity.
5. The face image is then biometrically matched to the ID image provided.
6. The candidate finishes the authorization and identity screening process, and the request is submitted to Peopletrail for processing.

Unlike some identity screening products, this process requires no account creation or extensive data entry hassle. It is fully embedded in our standard background screening authorization workflow, which thousands of candidates complete daily without issue. While this product is comprehensive, it is also very simple and streamlined.

Benefits of Comprehensive Identity Verification

When speaking of pre-employment screening, inaccurate candidate data is the leading cause of delays. But beyond mere inconvenience, failure to properly screen new hires can pose tremendous risk. 

According to Experian, 31 percent of employers have interviewed candidates using a false identity. Given the issue’s pervasiveness and potential repercussions, it is important for employers to seek the following benefits in their pre-hire process:

Fraud Prevention

Comprehensive identity screening will use facial biometric matching and fraud detection algorithms to reduce the risk of accepting forged or stolen IDs.

Establishing a Strong Case Against Constructive Knowledge

The government can penalize employers for hiring unauthorized workers if they had actual or constructive knowledge of their status. Proper pre-hire identity screening means taking extra, reasonable steps to verify document legitimacy and identity verification. This can greatly reduce the possibility of penalties.

Process Standardization to Mitigate Bias

Since this process is part of the screening authorization portion, every candidate undergoes the same identity screening progression and meets the same criteria.

Clean FCRA Audit Trails

Our system automatically logs timestamps and verification data into a secure, encrypted system. This information can be easily retrieved in the event of an audit.

Takeways

With $10.2 billion in consumer fraud losses in 2023, identity screening is as important for employers as it is for candidates and will become even more important as AI improves. Luckily, there are simple, comprehensive screening products that can address these issues while helping employers mitigate risk and improve compliance.

If you would like to learn more about incorporating better identity screening into your current background screening solution, please contact us.