Verifying identity documents
Your MyServiceNSW Account can be used to verify identity documents through the Document Verification Service (DVS) provided by the Attorney-General’s Department. Service NSW uses the DVS to check your documents match against the records of Australian Government and state and territory government agencies that issue the document, or with Services Australia for Commonwealth concession cards.
Please refer to the MyServiceNSW Account collection notice for more information about how Service NSW uses the DVS to verify your identity documents.
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. This system captures biometric information from you by scanning your face to complete a liveness check and face verification step which is defined further below.
We use this information to match your face to your NSW Driver Licence or NSW Photo Card photo, which we request from the Transport for NSW DRIVES system, to 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 proving your identity online with face verification is optional. Where a stronger level of identity verification is required 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 be deleted immediately following the face verification process – regardless of whether your verification is successful – and will not be used for other purposes or shared with third parties.
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.
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).
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.
Australian Death Check (for NSW Digital Identity only)
If you choose to create a NSW Digital Identity, Service NSW will need to conduct a Death Check.
A Death Check is performed to confirm that a person is not recorded as deceased in the official Australian Death Check Registry. This process helps prevent identity fraud by ensuring that the personal information of a deceased person is not used to create a false identity.
Completing a Death Check is voluntary and not required by law. However, it is required for customers who choose to create a NSW Digital ID.
How the Australian Death Check Works
With your consent, ID Support performs the Death Check on behalf of Service NSW. To complete the check:
- Service NSW will collect your name and date of birth.
- Service NSW will disclose your name and date of birth to ID Support
- ID Support will provide this information to the Australian Death Check Registry (managed by the Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Queensland BDM)) to perform the necessary check
- ID Support will receive the result from Queensland BDM and provide this result to Service NSW.
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.