This guide is for individuals going through a Persona-powered identity verification flow. While we’ve included helpful tips, the verification was set up by the business, service, or organization that asked you to verify. They use Persona as a tool, and they ultimately decide what’s required and can assist with your specific situation, if you’re having trouble.
Why your employer is asking
Companies use identity verification for a handful of everyday moments at work:
- Starting a job, to confirm the new hire is the person who was offered the role.
- Resetting a password or recovering an account when you are locked out.
- Getting access to a system, a building, or something sensitive.
- Confirming it is you before a change is made to your pay or personal details.
The reason is the same in each case. Attackers have got good at phoning a help desk, sounding like an employee, and talking their way into an account. Asking for a document and a live photo of a face is much harder to talk around.
What the verification flow looks like
You will usually start on a computer, at a login or password reset screen, and be moved to your phone for the camera part. Depending on the setup you will either scan a code, follow a link sent to you, or open an app.
- On an iPhone, the flow often opens as a small temporary app rather than a web page. See Verification opened as an app on my iPhone.
- On Android, you may be asked to install the Persona Wallet app first. See I was asked to download the Persona Wallet app.
One warning worth reading
No one from your company, your IT help desk, or Persona will ever call, text, or message you asking you to complete a verification on their behalf, or while they stay on the line.
If that is happening to you, it is a scam, and the person on the phone is trying to use your face and your ID to get into an account. Hang up, do not continue, and report it to your IT or security team through a number or address you already know is real.
A verification you started yourself, from your employer’s own login screen, is a different thing entirely.
Who to go to when it goes wrong
Your IT help desk or HR contact, not Persona. It sounds like a brush off, so here is why it is not: they set up the flow, they can see your attempts, they know what your company’s devices allow, and they are the only ones who can decide what happens with your access. Persona cannot see or discuss an individual result, and cannot change a step in their flow.
Tell them the step you were on and the exact wording on the screen. That is usually enough for them to sort it out.
If your work phone is in the way
Managed phones often block app installs, restrict the camera, or filter the network, and you cannot lift those restrictions yourself. Your IT team can, and on a managed device they can usually install the app for you.
Using a personal phone for the camera step avoids nearly all of it, if your company allows that.
What your employer sees
They receive the outcome of the verification and the information they asked for, in the same way as any other business that uses Persona. What is asked for is their decision; see what the business decides about your verification and can someone else see my verification results?.