Persona Help Center
This guide is written for individuals who are completing a Persona identity verification flow.
What is a Reusable Persona?
Persona collects and verifies your identity information on behalf of eligible businesses who are our customers.
You can create a Reusable Persona to securely save your identity information and speed up future verification flows on other businesses that use Persona to verify your identity.
Depending on what information is requested and successfully verified, information such as your name, birthdate, address, ID document, and selfie may be saved in the Reusable Persona. Then, when asked to verify your identity on other businesses that use Persona, you can reuse the previously saved information instead of having to submit the same information again for use by Persona’s customer.
The information stored inside your Reusable Persona is encrypted using a passkey stored only on your device, which means use of the Reusable Persona and any information within it is controlled by you. You decide if and when any information is shared. No one, including Persona or the business who needs to verify your identity, has access unless you provide permission.
What is a passkey and why do I need to create one?
Passkeys are a passwordless authentication method that eliminate the need for usernames and passwords. They’re an industry standard for authentication across devices and operating systems, easier to use, and more secure than passwords and one-time codes that can be forgotten or stolen.
The difference between passkeys and passwords is that passkeys are cryptographic key pairs. The key pair is specific to an application. One half is shared with the application, and the other half is private and stored on your device.
Benefits of passkeys include:
- You won’t have to remember a sequence of letters, numbers, and characters.
- You can sign into accounts with fingerprint or facial recognition technology.
- You can use passkeys across different operating systems and browsers, and with both websites and apps.
- Passkeys are strong enough to never be guessed or reused, making them safe from hacker attempts.
- Passkeys are connected to the app or website they were created for, so you can never be tricked into using your passkey to sign in to a fraudulent app or website.
When you create a Reusable Persona, you’ll be asked to create a passkey using your fingerprint, face scan, screen lock, or security key. The passkey is then stored on your device along with an encryption key that allows you to access the information in your Reusable Persona. When you decide to use your Reusable Persona in another Persona flow, you’ll be asked to first sign in with the same passkey.
Because passkeys are stored on your device, the process may differ for each operating system and may not be available on all systems. Please see below if you’re having trouble:
How can I use my Reusable Persona?
Different third party businesses integrating Persona services may ask for your information to verify your identity. By granting access to the information previously saved in your Reusable Persona, you avoid resubmitting the same information across these different businesses and speed up the overall process.
Look for the “Verify with your Persona” button in any supported flows. You’ll see what specific information is being requested, and can decide whether to share information from your Reusable Persona. If you choose to share, you’ll be asked to first sign in with the passkey associated with your Reusable Persona and then notified when the relevant information has been successfully shared with the application.
After you share the information requested from your Reusable Persona, additional verifications may be run. Depending on the results of these verifications along with other requirements of the third party business, you may be asked to resubmit or submit additional information. If we are unable to access the information in your Reusable Persona for any reason, you’ll also have to resubmit or submit additional information.
Can I use my Reusable Persona across different devices?
Yes- it depends on the device and browser you’re using, and how it’s saved.
When you create a Reusable Persona, you’ll be asked to create a passkey that allows you to securely sign in to use your Reusable Persona in a future flow.
You may have the option to save the passkey to your cloud service account (for example, an Apple ID or Google account) or a password manager (for example, 1Password or Bitwarden). If you do so, you’ll be able to use the same passkey on all devices that are logged in with that account. When trying to verify with your Reusable Persona on a device that uses the same cloud service account, the passkey will automatically be displayed.
If you do not save the passkey to a cloud service account or password manager, or the device is not signed in to the same account, you may still be able to use the same passkey by scanning a QR code with the device’s camera where the passkey is saved.
How do I access or delete my Reusable Persona?
We value the privacy of those who provide personal information to us, and we’re here to help if you would like to access or delete the information you saved. Please contact idv-privacy@withpersona.com with your request.
It is important that you retain your passkey to delete or access your information. Without a passkey, access to a specific Reusable Persona is impossible whether by you or Persona.
To respond to your request, we may require additional information to verify your identity, including but not limited to asking you to authenticate with your passkey in a secure flow which then allows us to access, correct, or delete any associated information without asking you for any other identifying information.
If you choose to delete your Reusable Persona or any information within it, please note that specific businesses you’ve shared information with may still have your data. To delete any copies of your personal data they obtained through Persona, please contact the third party business or service directly.
Where can I find the Reusable Persona privacy policy and terms of use?
You can find the applicable privacy policy here and the terms of use here.