Is there anyone out there who has to do identity verification for remote testing? I obviously have to get the participants to sign an NDA but my legal department wants me to take it a step further and to verify the participants identity. If you do have to do identity verification what do you do? I probably have to go with something that is free or costs next to nothing if I use a service. The only way that I can think to do it for free is to have them send me an image of their ID (driver's license, military ID, etc) or just show it to me before we start the test. I'm not sure legal will go for that though so options to present to them would be nice. The questions I'm coming across on this site are more focused with verification of credit cards or email addresses. Thanks for any input.
-
If you don't think the legal department would accept photo ID, have you asked them what they would accept?– Matt ObeeApr 17, 2015 at 14:55
-
1@MattObee: I'm sorry, that probably wan't very clear. Of course they'll accept an ID, but I don't know if they would appreciate the person just showing it to me through the webcam. I suspect they'll want a record of it other than a video that's floating around out there.– FletchlingApr 17, 2015 at 14:57
-
I suppose I could take a screenshot, print it out and put it in with the rest of the files but if there's a more streamlined option out there I wouldn't be too upset :)– FletchlingApr 17, 2015 at 15:00
-
1A sub-optimal solution to this is to avoid letting legal know about this stuff.– Ken MohnkernJun 23, 2015 at 13:58
-
1Also do make sure that the user knows before hand that they will be needing identification and signing an NDA. This will save your time and theirs.– Daniel ZahraJul 23, 2015 at 15:31
2 Answers
I have taken courses on Coursera that require you to have a web cam so you can hold up your photo id (at least the first time) and then have you let the software take your picture again during each session.
Let them know ahead of time, also let them know when their personally identifiable information will be destroyed etc.
I think it was Coursera that also requires you to type in a pass phrase, and it measures your typing response time based on the idea that it is "as unique as a fingerprint" but that might be going overboard in your case.
I have also done user testing with a large course management system company where I signed an NDA, and the testing was simply done while I was on the phone with them.
-
In the last course I took, the only verification they used was the typing fingerprint method. Jun 28, 2016 at 15:47
Haven't done this myself, but have participated in things that have required this. Typically it just requires sending over a photo of an ID, meaning anything government issued. Legally, that's enough. Again, you'll face all liability, and it's not really an issue for someone to get a fake ID, so if you don't have a way to check against a government database, it's only a deterrent, and a slight one at that.
