What's Up with Tech?
Tech Transformation with Evan Kirstel: A podcast exploring the latest trends and innovations in the tech industry, and how businesses can leverage them for growth, diving into the world of B2B, discussing strategies, trends, and sharing insights from industry leaders!
With over three decades in telecom and IT, I've mastered the art of transforming social media into a dynamic platform for audience engagement, community building, and establishing thought leadership. My approach isn't about personal brand promotion but about delivering educational and informative content to cultivate a sustainable, long-term business presence. I am the leading content creator in areas like Enterprise AI, UCaaS, CPaaS, CCaaS, Cloud, Telecom, 5G and more!
What's Up with Tech?
Reusable Identity: The Digital TSA PreCheck
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The digital identity revolution is here, and it's transforming how we verify who we are online. In this fascinating conversation, Raj from Trua explains how their innovative approach to identity verification is creating what amounts to a "TSA PreCheck for the digital age" - a system where you verify your identity once and reuse it countless times without repeatedly sharing your sensitive personal information.
As data breaches continue to plague major institutions and AI makes identity fraud increasingly sophisticated, our current approach of repeatedly collecting and storing personal information for every digital transaction has become unsustainable. Trua's solution combines verification of personal attributes with biometric confirmation to create a comprehensive "trust credential for life" that's continuously updated and verified.
This approach is revolutionizing hiring processes across industries. Traditional background checks take 5-10 days and can only be conducted after a job offer due to regulations. With Trua, candidates obtain their credentials ahead of time, allowing for same-day hiring - a game-changer for high-turnover industries like restaurants and gig economy platforms. For high-assurance sectors like transportation, continuous screening provides ongoing safety verification that could prevent tragedies like the recent Florida Turnpike incident involving an unlicensed truck driver.
Perhaps most exciting is Trua's potential to combat the chaos of AI-generated resumes flooding HR departments. By requiring a Trua ID with each application, employers can instantly verify that a real, verified person is behind each resume, dramatically improving the quality of applicant pools and helping qualified candidates stand out.
Implementation is remarkably straightforward with no complex software to install. The system automatically handles compliance with relevant regulations, reducing burdens on HR teams and minimizing litigation risks. As we look toward a future where millions of jobs will be reshored to the US, having a reliable, efficient identity verification system will be essential for connecting qualified candidates with opportunities.
Ready to bring order to your verification processes and accelerate your hiring timeline? Visit truainc.com to learn how you can implement this revolutionary approach to digital identity.
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Hey everyone, fascinating chat. Today. Reusable Identity is having its real app store moment and True is betting that faster trust and continuous compliance with real privacy can make a huge difference. Out there, Raj, how are you?
Speaker 2:I'm doing well, Evan. Thanks for having me today.
Speaker 1:Thanks for being here Such an important conversation. Let's talk about identity. A reusable identity seems to be getting real. What's actually changed? Is it the tech landscape, the buyers, the sense of urgency, regulation? What say you and how do you describe Trua's vision these days?
Speaker 2:vision these days. Well, tura's vision is basically helping the stoppage of the proliferation of data. I'm sure you've seen all kinds of data. Even recently, there was a big data breach of one of the trade unions like TransUnion. I got a notification from LifeLock saying that there was a big breach.
Speaker 2:The biggest issue is in the last 10, 15 years, when the internet, e-commerce and digital transactions have taken off. A lot of scammers have entered the scene. Many people take advantage of vulnerable people on the other side of the wire, so to speak. So what happens in that case is people mimic identities, and it has exploded since the advent of AI in the last 24 months or so. So one of the things that we said is is there a way to verify the identity of an individual without actually collecting their personal information? All the time today, for every digital transaction, what you have to do is collect personal information like social security, uh, date of birth address or you know other forms of id. But is there a way to verify the individual without collecting it? There? There are tools that are coming out that is just verifies the identity as a human being. But, yes, you can verify that I'm a human being, but can you verify that I am Raj. So that is the biggest issue. So you want to combine the individual attributes of the individual attributes of the person, at the same time also the facial recognition of the individual, uh, the attributes of the person at the same time, also the facial recognition of the individual. So those two have to be combined to really zoom in on the identity, and that's why we are relentless in pursuing that passion for providing that identity.
Speaker 2:So wouldn't it be great to get it once and then reuse it as many times as possible? So when you get your fundamental ID, which is basically the government issued ID, you get it once. You don't go for every transaction go get your driver's license or passport. What you do is you get it once and then they authenticate. And of course, these scammers have come about with fake IDs and fake passports and so on and so forth. So it has multiplied the problem. So what is important is you get it once and then reuse it multiple times, and that's exactly what we have done.
Speaker 2:So for those folks out there, a simple analog would be a TSA PreCheck for the digital age. If you think about it TSA PreCheck you get it verified once and then you can go into any airport or any airline or any secure area related to transportation. So we are taking the concepts of TSA PreCheck just as a side note. We are the brains behind TSA PreCheck in our previous lives, attributes of an individual whether it's social security, date of birth, driver's license or passport and so on and so forth and the likeness of the individual, which is the biometric piece, and then you lock it up into your digital wallet and use that ongoing and the best part is it is continuously verified and updated and that is the fundamental aspect of this whole what I call a trust credential for life. You get it once, reuse it as many times. That way, you don't have to share your personal information like social for any transaction. I'll pause for a minute and then let you ask.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a game changer, I mean so important across the enterprise. But certain industries, verticals, even more so. Think healthcare. You know hiring is so fast and furious. But certain industries, verticals, even more so. Think healthcare. You know hiring is so fast and furious, but very fragile. Talk about speeding onboarding without inviting credential fraud, which you know can be deadly for us.
Speaker 2:That is correct. So in the last 15 years lots of identity verification solutions have come up right Because everybody found out that there's a big issue. They all came up with siloed information. Siloed solution, like somebody says, hey, I'll verify your social security and date of birth and so on and so forth. And then what? So somebody else comes up with a fake ID. So how do you verify? Oh, I'll verify your facial or live scan or whatever it is. So they've become fragmented solutions for fragmented use cases. So we have enough point solutions in the market that it is literally like pulling your hair out, depending on what market you're in or what problem you're trying to solve.
Speaker 2:So what we are trying to do is come up with a standard way of doing it. There's always a question oh, it's high friction if you ask them to verify more than one attribute. The reason for that is because you have to keep doing that for every transaction the high friction. But instead you spend the five months in your life and you get your life credential, and then it's always updated. After that it's in seconds, whatever the verification happens. So people are looking at this high friction user interface from a different lens the wrong lens, I should say you know, because it's oh. We cannot compromise on identity but at the same time, we cannot have an undue burden on the end users to verify more than one attribute. It is going to be the same issue. That's why I said get it once, reuse it multiple times.
Speaker 1:That's really compelling and you work with so many different customers across industries. Where do they generally see ROI? First, is it time to hire fewer rescreens, fewer support tickets or any numbers? You?
Speaker 2:can share. One of the things that we have done is right, we have taken the concept of the existing solutions out there, including the credit bureaus, right, but they're always done by a third party, which is basically somebody else, does it on your behalf, but you're never in the loop of verifying your data. Your data is very important, right, you have gathered it over the years and it's important that you verify it Today. None of the solutions provide what we call a first-party verification. First-party verification is very important because you, as an individual, need to verify the data that's in your background and say, hey, this is me now, this is my dad, for example, or my brother. Sometimes those things get transposed because public data is very dirty and very, very unreliable, so you need to curate that. That is the reason why we are saying, hey, spend three to five minutes up front to get your trust credentials once, where you get to verify the data and it's always current. That's very important, right, if something happens a month from now, you get the update. Let's say, you get a new advanced degree or new professional license, right, it's already you. You say, hey, I have an update, it's updated. So, whatever it becomes, it's an updated as is, as of the moment, accuracy, so that's another big thing. So when people are trying to use that for hiring, for example, right, they're saying, oh, it's already verified by the individual. I don't have to verify any of those things if something negative comes back, because the candidate is in the loop. So the onboarding is literally next, as soon as they get interviewed and they can use the trust credential or truer credential and say, oops, done, come on board the same day.
Speaker 2:Think about the speed to hire. Today it takes, you know, five to 10 days to get your background check. It's because it's done by a third party and the current regulation says you can only do a background check when you are, when, after you have offered the job to the candidate. With our approach, you can get it anytime. You can get it ahead of time and say, hey, go get your tour credential. Then, boom, it's done and you can be hired the same day. So think about, in fast industries like restaurant workers or gig workers and so on and so forth, you're looking for somebody tomorrow, right, and or today perhaps. How do you get the candidate quickly onto the job site or onto the relying party, right? The way to do it is they have to be pre-vetted. You cannot do that with the current infrastructure and the current process, because it's highly regulated. Ours is the first non-regulator approach, because you're letting the candidate verify all of the data ahead of time.
Speaker 1:So important and this is not theoretical. This is life and death. You recently blogged on your LinkedIn page I'd encourage everyone to check out your LinkedIn page Really insightful and informative around the tragedy on the Florida Turnpike with an unlicensed, illegal truck driver who just a devastating crash, such a senseless loss and lives disrupted. What are some of the shortfalls in this sort of hiring and screening process that potentially could have been or might in the future be? You know?
Speaker 2:In this case, there is more than a truest approach, because A I always say continuous screening is very important in these high-assurance sectors like truck driving, uber, lyft you know DoorDash of the world, right, they may have done a background check a year ago. Since then, a lot of things have happened in the individual's life that could affect the ultimate end user, so that is a big issue. Continuous screening is very important. Ours is the only one that does that, natively built into it. And the second thing I mentioned about this whole post is which is tangential to what Truard does, which is the test of English as a foreign language. It's called TOEFL. I'm an immigrant to this country. 40 years ago I came. I had to take that exam to prove that I can speak English and understand English.
Speaker 2:Before entering college in the United States, almost all foreign students are required to do that. Why can't you do the same thing to all of the foreign, non-native speaking? Uber drivers, truck drivers, all of those things make that as mandatory requirement for getting your license beyond licensure. You know requirements, right? Yeah, you may require the driving requirement, but can they read the road signs in English? Can they follow the instructions? Right, if there is an accident ahead. There's a lot of neon signs showing up. Can they read that and follow the instructions? So I think they should make that. You know, I'm going to urge the Department of Transportation, homeland Security and so on and so forth to make TOEFL as a requirement for all foreign non-native speaking drivers. That's a simple example.
Speaker 1:Simple and so practical and logical.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you're requiring for all the foreign students. Why not? These are all standard candidates, right? Just because they didn't go through the formal college process, they're coming through the side door. They should also be subjected to the same English language standards as the rest of the college students. Well, said.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about over-collecting of personal confidential information. Every time I change my gym or I go to a doctor or maybe a specialist, I'm giving my personal information, my social security number, over and over and over again. It gets really tedious. How does Truva think about that problem and addressing that for good?
Speaker 2:Because every sector with its healthcare there's a different requirement, because it's also regulated, or if it is in the gym membership or in employment or other places. They all require different data collected from you. And the reason for the repeated collection is because they have to verify you over and over again. They don't have this standard process of verifying you. That is why this whole approach of like a TSA pre-check because when you go to TSA which is the ultimate security issue right, they don't keep screening you over and over again. They'll verify your identity right there. That's about it. But then, from a screening perspective, are you a threat to aviation or flying? They don't do that because you have that TSA pre-check. It's the same concept because what we have done is TSA pre-check unfortunately does not have identity verification. It's human identity when I say identity verification. So we have folded that also into the Truer credential, which is basically your identity and your background all in one. And then let's say, for a banking application, like a KYC AML, you have sanctions, watch lists and other things. So you just say, hey, I'm applying for a banking transaction and so they're looking to KYC me. So in my profile I'll use a toggle button that says I don't need to show anything else other than those three attributes that the banks require, because you already have all of that in your wallet. You just enable the ones that you want to share. Same thing with medical right. So it's the lack of having that option in society is what is forcing these people to collect all of that information.
Speaker 2:I tell my kids next time somebody is asking for too much information, have them sign a piece of paper that says that you're going to guard that data that belongs to you with your life. And sign here. You sign here. I'll give you my data. If you start pushing back and say, hey, why do you need that data?
Speaker 2:Of course you're usually dealing with the messenger there, right? Hey, I'm here just collecting the process and collecting the information, because that's what I'm told to do. Somebody has to fundamentally question that process. Hey, I'm repeatedly giving my information for every little transaction that you should start avoiding and that needs a national conversation, and say, hey, why are we doing this over and over again? Isn't it simple to have just a you know, unbreakable code or a token? I call it unbreakable code or a token. I call it Then every time you do that, and then it's verified by a bureau or something and say, boom done, because you're interested in verifying that you're not in the sanctions list, you're not in the watch list, you're not in the sex offender registry or whatever it is that your application requires.
Speaker 1:Boom done. What a world that would be. I can't wait to see it realized with Trua. So if you're a business leader or maybe HR security in an enterprise and you know you want to put Trua in action 90 days, let's say you know how do you plug in to you know big enterprise? What are the non-negotiables? What does the deployment look like?
Speaker 2:enterprise. What are the non-negotiables? What does the deployment look like? For Truva, one of the things that we have to have is the identity verified every which way from Sunday. That means not just oh, I do a facial scan, I know Raj. On the other end, I know Evan, but you know, yes, I can say you're Evan, but are you really Evan? I can see your face, yep verified, but are you really Evan? Right, it's the same question you have to ask.
Speaker 2:So we have to verify your attributes, like social, date, of birth, address, history and so on and so forth, and then match it with your facial scan and then say, okay, now all of those things are matching. That's 99.99% high assurance, so to speak, or assurance of your identity. And then all your background information is verified and then it's shared. So enterprise is easy. You can start on day one because you don't need anything, you don't need any major software on your end. So we activate customers.
Speaker 2:We just signed recently a big trade union in the West Coast and they're using our system and they're ready to go on day one because what they do is with a portal is set up with their logo and whatnot, and they start inviting, issuing invitation to the candidates they are trying to hire.
Speaker 2:Right, hey, go get your truer score Boom done In 30 minutes or so. I mean in less than five minutes. They finish it and then, within the same day if they don't have too much information or baggage you can get your truer score the same day or same afternoon, and then you can share it immediately with the sponsor, in this case happens to be the employer. So there is no technology, um uh awareness on the part of the uh uh employers or the hr people. It's the fastest and the most easiest and they don't have to worry about. Am I walking on eggshells? Oh my God, I saw a DUI. What do I do with this? It's already been verified by the individual and, more importantly, the state statues are also mapped with it, meaning, if the state says you cannot take into consideration a DUI that shows up that is more than five years, our system will address that without any issue.
Speaker 1:Incredible, so needed.
Speaker 2:You have a big event coming up in DC September 10th and 11th, and then we're also at the HR Tech Conference in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. What are some?
Speaker 1:of the themes that you're going to be top of mind there. What are some of the trends you're interested in tapping into?
Speaker 2:Yeah, one of the things that we are very, very say hey, on board the same day. You know no regulation requirement. Think about all of the potential lawsuits that for wrongful hires or wrongful claims. Hey, you didn't give me a job, you didn't get because of X, y and Z. No, no, no, no. You already verified all your information ahead of time, so you don't have to worry about litigation. You don't have to worry about all of the compliance burden that you have to go through in bringing a candidate on board and it's literally a 24-hour onboarding. Wow, that's the biggest takeaway. And they're a lot less expensive compared to the industry standard Because it's done by third party. Today, 99% of the companies that provide employment screening are regulated. Ours is the first non-regulated approach.
Speaker 1:Fantastic and you know there's such a hiring chaos out there right now, with with JetAI and AI generated resumes and bots, and it's it's I mean bringing order to this process seems like a must-have. What are your thoughts on?
Speaker 2:you know this wave of chaos that's overwhelming HR. It's a very simple process because HR is inundated with thousands of resumes. In fact, I read a poster not too long ago just about that. So wouldn't it be great for they say hey, you want to apply for this job? You go get your Truva ID. Now, truva has two components Truva ID piece and then Truva score, which is the full background. Right, truva ID is just, we will reimburse you. It costs you maybe a buck or less. Right, we can reimburse them.
Speaker 2:Or it's part of doing business and tell the candidates to get your Truer ID and then, when they submit the resume, it comes with a Truer ID to the recruiter. The recruiter knows for sure this is not a bot. Sure, this is not a bot. Think about the power of that. Because that true ID is embedded in your PDF resume, for example. Right, oh, this is a verified resume, not from a bot.
Speaker 2:And somebody took the time to send it to me, not automatically, was sent by your job board database. And they say hey, we can automatically send the resume to all these open jobs. And that's a problem. You need to have a human behind it, because we are all victims of this quote, unquote, automation, slash convenience and so, yeah, I want to apply. That means you're not genuinely looking at the job, the matching requirement, because some of these AI it's based on buzzwords, right? So people use all the buzzwords and everything we cannot do subjective verification, we can do objective verification. Subjective is you can inflate your resume with all the accomplishments. We cannot verify that, obviously right, that you can verify based on an interview, in-person interview or Zoom interview, whatever it is, but before you talk to the person on the Zoom, you know for sure that person is who they say they are not from North Korea.
Speaker 2:That is a big issue going on in recruitment right now oh it's chaos and there needs to be order brought.
Speaker 1:and it's such an important thought, any final call to action for the folks listening, watching this episode.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is a very easy thing to obtain. It's not rocket science. If you know TSA PreCheck, this is TSA PreCheck for digital age. That means you can be sure of the individual's background and also the verification of the identity. So a lot of background check vendors don't perform identity proofing because of remote hires and whatnot, so you need to have that as part of the whole verification process and onboard the next day.
Speaker 1:That would be incredible.
Speaker 2:That's the biggest benefit for HR, especially in the next three to five years. There's lots and lots of jobs that are going to be reshored here. Reshoring is the big deal going on and you know you don't want bombarded with bot resumes, you want real people. So say, hey, go get your Truer score, we'll reimburse you, okay. Or a Truer ID it's a couple of bucks or whatever it is and then you apply only with a Truer ID, otherwise don't bother applying.
Speaker 2:It's as simple as that. You can put that as part of your job description and then you can reject on your end using AI. If it doesn't have a true ID, you don't have to interview them because you've already said that you need to have a true credential as part of your applying for a job. Seems so simple. I don't mind even giving out the true ID piece, which is. I said I don't mind because this is a societal thing that I'm fighting, right, societal problem.
Speaker 2:So all the college graduates, for example, there are, I think plus or minus last year, 4 million college graduates, both two year and four year, and they college graduates both two-year and four-year and they're all coming up for jobs, right, and they're getting bombarded with all the bot resumes and people who are genuinely qualified are missing out on this. The best way to solve some of that is hey, every resume should have a true ID as part of it. And then when you get it on the other end, that means at least you have qualified the individual and that you have verified the identity of the individual. And then you have a subjective interview, which is do you really know the subject matter? So I would love to give it out to college students, if I can, and say hey, get ready for employment.
Speaker 2:A year from now you're going to be, you're a senior, now you're going to get jobs. And then tell them that you're already verified and you already verified background as well. It's easy for them to say, oh, I have a candidate that's verified and you know no criminal record or whatever. It is, boom done. They can do additional diligence if they want to, based on their requirement, but it's easy onboarding, same-day onboarding.
Speaker 1:Incredible work. Thanks so much for the update. Everyone, let's get behind this. It's not just the technology, it's really a movement. And thanks, Rod, for the update and good luck with the activity as we head now into September.
Speaker 2:Yep. Thank you, evan, appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Appreciate you. Thanks everyone for listening, watching and sharing. Take care.