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.
Two companies are involved, and they do different jobs
Persona builds the verification technology. The business, service, or employer that sent you to it builds the verification flow you actually walk through, using settings in a tool we give them.
That split explains most of the confusion people hit. When a screen says something you disagree with, the useful question is not “why is Persona doing this” but “which of the two set this up”, because that tells you who can change it.
What the business chooses
| Setting | What you notice |
|---|---|
| Which steps you get | Whether you need an ID, a selfie, both, a phone number, an address, or more |
| Which countries count | Whether your country appears in the list on the first screen |
| Which documents count | Whether your passport, licence, or national ID is offered as an option |
| Which sides are needed | Whether you are asked for the back of a card as well as the front |
| How you submit a photo | Whether you can send a saved file or have to use the camera then and there |
| How many tries you get | When the flow stops offering you another attempt |
| How long you have | When your link or your session expires |
| Whether you can hand off | Whether the flow offers to move you from a computer to your phone |
| Some of the wording | The text on certain screens, which is why help articles paraphrase it |
What Persona does
- Builds the steps themselves, such as the camera capture and the document scan.
- Runs the checks on what you submit and reports the result back to the business.
- Protects your information while it is with us. See does Persona store my ID?.
What Persona does not do is decide what happens to your account. The business asked for the verification, receives the result, and acts on it.
What this means when you get stuck
- A step you cannot complete, or a document that is not accepted: the business. They can change what the flow accepts or offer you another route.
- The camera, the scan, or an error screen misbehaving: work through the troubleshooting articles here first, then tell the business that asked you to verify what you saw.
- Whether you passed, and what happens next: the business. They can see your result, and we cannot discuss individual outcomes.
- What is stored about you and for how long: the business decides how long they keep it, so start with them. See can I delete my data?.
Why we cannot make an exception for you
People often ask us to verify them by email instead, or to wave a step through. We are not able to, and it is not a matter of willingness. We do not own the requirements, the business does, and a verification that could be talked around by asking nicely would not protect anyone.
The business can make exceptions, and often will. They are the right place to ask.