Verifying your documents
Your MyServiceNSW Account can be used to verify your identity for when you apply for and/or add services to your account. To do this we collect personal information from your proof of identity documents. We disclose this information to the document issuer or official record holder via third party systems for the purposes of verifying the documents against the records of Australian Government and state and territory government agencies. This may include the Document Verification Service, or Services Australia for Department of Veteran Affairs card holders.
In some instances, we are required by law to obtain your information so that we can verify your identity. If you choose not to provide the information, then you may be unable to complete the transaction.
We retain and use information provided in your identity documents to help detect when someone that isn’t you may attempt to use your proof of identity documents in a transaction and prevent it from occurring. We do this to help protect your identity and your MyServiceNSW Account from misuse. You should also refer to the privacy collection notice for the handling of personal information for specific products or services that we deliver, if applicable to your transaction.
You can choose to make your identity document information available for future use. This function can help verify you faster by automatically filling your proof of identity information within a transaction, with your consent. This will also help Service NSW identify you if you need our help through one of our assisted channels. This function is optional, and you can change your mind at any time by removing the option of reusing identity documents in your Profile settings.
Face verification
For transactions where a stronger level of identity verification is required, you may be given the option of proving your identity using our biometric face verification system. With face verification, we capture biometric information from you by scanning your face. This includes getting you to complete a liveness check and face verification step which are defined further below.
We use this information to match your face to your NSW Driver Licence or NSW Photo Card photo, which is requested from the Transport for NSW DRIVES system, and complete a Proof of Identity check. This will allow you to verify your identity online rather than in person at a Service NSW Service Centre.
It is important to note that this process is optional. You can choose instead to complete your Proof of Identity check, at any time, in a Service NSW Service Centre.
Service NSW will temporarily hold your biometric information in an encrypted format whilst you complete the face verification process. Your information will not be shared with any other third party. As soon as this process is complete, Service NSW will delete your biometric information - regardless of whether your verification is successful.
Service NSW also generates an activity log about your use of face verification. This includes things like whether face verification was successful or not, what the transaction was, and the time and date of face verification. This information is used for troubleshooting, auditing and compliance purposes and will be shared with Transport for NSW for the same purpose.
Service NSW also conducts de-identified quality assurance on the quality of images used for facial verification, so that we can continue to improve the service.
What is a liveness check?
Liveness detection in biometrics is the ability of a system to detect if a face is real (from a live person present at the point of capture) or fake (from a spoof artefact or still photograph).
What is face verification?
Face verification is a way of proving someone’s identity by matching an individual’s face (biometric) scan against a reference image (for example, driver licence photograph).
Biometric information captured by Service NSW for the purpose of completing a liveness check and face verification step will be deleted immediately following the face verification process and will not be used for other purposes or shared with third parties. Service NSW will not use your personal information for any other purposes unless you provide your consent or Service NSW is otherwise authorised or required to do so by law.
More information
Please visit www.service.nsw.gov.au/privacy for more information about how Service NSW handles your personal information. This includes how you can access and seek correction of the information, how privacy enquiries or complaints can be made, how information is securely stored and how to contact us. Service NSW is located at 2-24 Rawson Place Sydney NSW 2000.