Helping you understand Identity Verification.

All members can contact us at support@soulmate4u.co.uk and request an identity verification for themselves or for other members. If requesting for other members, prior to this, there must be an understanding between you and the other member of your desire/requirement of an Identity Verification.

Based on the mutual understanding between you and the other member, we will then process the request and you/or the member will receive an email with a link to verify your/their identity.

Stripe Identity helps us at SOULMATE4U to confirm the identity of global users to prevent fraud, streamline risk operations, and increase trust and safety.

• Capture IDs with a conversion-optimized verification flow
• Verify authenticity of global ID documents
• Match photo ID with selfies, and validate SSN
• Access collected images, and extracted data from ID document

We use Stripe Identity for Identity Verification. Stripe collects identity document images, facial images, ID numbers and addresses as well as advanced fraud signals and information about the devices that connect to its services.

Best Practices for a Successful Verification

Before starting the verification process, here’s what you need:

• A valid government-issued photo ID document.Not a photocopy or a picture of an ID document. Ensure that the ID document is not expired.
• A device with a camera, if possible, use a mobile device. Cameras on mobile devices typically take higher-quality photos than a webcam.

The quality of the images captured affects success rates dramatically. Below are a few best practices to help ensure that your verification succeeds:

• Capture a clear image. Make sure that the images are not too dark or bright, and don’t have a glare. Hold steady and allow your camera to focus to avoid blurry photos.
• Do not block any part of your ID document in the image. Ideally you can lay it flat to take the photo.
• Do not block any part of your face. Remove sunglasses, masks, or other accessories.
• Find a location with ambient lighting. Avoid spaces with strong overhead lights that cast a shadow on your face or ID document. Avoid sitting directly in front of a bright light which can wash out your face and add aglare to your ID document.

Common questions about Stripe Identity

Stripe builds technology that’s used by millions of companies around the world like Amazon, Google, and Zoom. They help with everything from accepting payments to managing subscriptions and verifying identities. Every year, they handle hundreds of billions of dollars of payments.

Stripe Identity helps businesses verify your identity by validating your government ID document and using biometric information to verify that the ID document belongs to you. Below are resources to help you better understand how you can manage the data captured in that process and how your data is kept safe.

How does Stripe verify my identity?  

There are 3 different ways businesses can choose to confirm your identity through Stripe:

1. Verify the authenticity of your ID document: Stripe will review images of the front and back of your government-issued photo ID to ensure that the document is authentic. We’ve built automated identity verification technology that looks for patterns to help determine if an ID document is real or fake. This process is like a bank teller checking your ID document to confirm that it’s real.
2. Match your ID with photos of your face: Stripe will review photos of your face to confirm that the photo ID belongs to you. Stripe has built automated identity verification technology that uses distinctive physiological characteristics of your face (known as biometric identifiers) to match the photos of your face with the photo on the ID document. This process is similar to a bank teller confirming that the photo on your ID document is you based on the shape of your nose or eyes—but it’s higher-tech and a more accurate way to identify you as a unique person.
3. Validate your ID number against global databases: Stripe will collect your name, date of birth, and government ID number, like the last 4 of your SSN, and check this information against a global set of databases to confirm that it exists.

More about Stripe’s identity verification technology

Stripe’s identity verification technology uses computer vision to create biometric identifiers of your face from the selfies and the picture on your photo ID—and compares the two. This mimics what a person does to verify that your face matches the face on your ID document in-person, like a cashier who reviews your driver’s license to verify that it’s real, then checks that you look like the photo on the ID document.

Consent to use your information

There are two different sets of permissions that we will ask of you for Stripe Identity.

Verify your identity

Stripe will capture images of you and your ID document to confirm your identity. Stripe will use the captured images to check that the ID document is valid, and to confirm that the ID document presented belongs to you. Both Stripe and Soulmate4U will have access to your verification status, captured images, and extracted data from images such as name, date of birth, and ID number. Soulmate4U will not see the biometric identifiers used to confirm that your selfie matches the ID document, and those identifiers will be removed from our systems within one year. We retain biometrics for one year to identify fraud over time and across photo IDs.

If you are not comfortable sharing your information in this way, you can exit, OR Please get in touch with Soulmate4U at support@soulmat4u.co.uk and request for an alternative way to confirm and verify your identity.

How can I delete my submitted identity data?

1. Reach out to Soulmate4U at support@soulmate4u.co.uk if you’d like to delete the data that Stripe is storing on our behalf, as well as any other copies they may have created on their systems. Stripe cannot delete this data itself because Stripe is acting as a data processor when storing the data on behalf of Soulmate4U that requested your verification.
2. Get in touch with Stripe by emailing privacy@stripe.com to delete data collected and stored during the identity verification process that is used by Stripe as an independent controller.

Upon receiving a verifiable deletion request, Stripe will remove Stripe’s permissions to use your submitted identity data for Stripe’s own purposes. Note, however, that unless the business (i.e. Soulmate4U) that requested your verification has deleted it, Stripe will retain copies of your submitted identity data—the images of you and your ID as well as any typed or extracted data and the verification results, as a processor on behalf of the business (i.e. Soulmate4U) who requested your verification. Please also note that Stripe may retain your personal data where permitted by law, including to comply with our legal obligations. For example, Stripe may not be able to delete data because of legal retention requirements, such as if your data was used to verify you to meet Stripe’s anti-money laundering requirements. You can read more about Stripe’s retention practices in  Privacy Policy.

If you gave consent for Stripe to use your biometric information, and would now like to revoke that consent going forward, you can also let us know by email support@soulmate4u.co.uk or by emailing privacy@stripe.com.

As a reminder, if you gave only consent for Stripe to verify your identity and for fraud and security purposes, the biometric identifiers used to make the initial verification are fully removed from our systems within one year. If you gave consent to improve Stripe’s verification technology, the biometric identifiers that are occasionally created to improve our systems likewise within one year of creation.

How is Stripe keeping my verification data safe?

Stripe Identity is built based on expertise they have developed from building a global infrastructure that handles hundreds of billions of dollars in payments annually. Stripe use learnings from building a bank-grade infrastructure to help keep verification data safe as well.

Stripe transfer verification data via TLS encrypted connections and use AES-256 encryption at rest. To prevent unauthorized access or use of verification data, they have implemented additional access controls to protect your confidential and sensitive information held by Stripe. This will keep the most sensitive data accessible only to those who have reason to access it.

Learn more about the safeguards Stripe have put in place to protect data transfers and control access.

Who has access to the verification data captured?

Since Stripe is conducting ID verifications on behalf of the business (i.e. Soulmate4U) that requested your verification, you are also granting consent for Soulmate4U to use and access information captured as part of the verification flow. Specifically, the Soulmate4U will have access to: captured images of the ID document, selfies, extracted data from the ID document, keyed-in information, and the verification result. Stripe will not share the biometric identifiers used to verify you.

Only Admin with permission granted by Soulmate4U that requested your verification has access to your information through the Stripe Dashboard. Soulmate4U can also access your information through the API with the use of restricted API keys.

As part of the ID verification process, Stripe may send captured images and keyed-in information to third party service providers for review. This will only happen in situations where Stripe’s automated verification technology cannot make a decision with confidence. These third parties are held to the same standards we use for sub-processors.

What information are you collecting?

Stripe stores information collected during the verification process on behalf of the business (i.e. Soulmate4U) that requested the verification and in some cases on our own behalf as a data controller.

The biometric identifiers created to conduct the verification will be fully removed from Stripe’s systems within one year.

Stripe will typically store the rest of your submitted identity information for 3 years. This includes all images captured, extracted data from your ID document including name, date of birth, and ID number, and any information submitted via forms such as name, date of birth, SSN, email, and phone number, and the verification response.

However, the business (i.e. Soulmate4U) who requested your verification or Stripe may have a reason under applicable law to store your data for a longer period. For example, this data may need to be stored for a longer period to comply with anti-money laundering or sanctions laws if it was used to conduct a verification to meet a legal Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement. Please review the Privacy Policy of the business (i.e. Soulmate4U) who requested your verification to learn more about their retention practices.

Stripe also capture common web analytics metadata such as your browser type, operating system, camera type, and IP address—which is sent by your browser to each website you access. Depending on how the business who requested your verification (i.e., Soulmate4u) configured Stripe Identity, Stripe may also collect advanced fraud detection signals from your browser. Stripe retains this information to help them prevent fraud, identify bugs and improve their services and may keep it longer as permitted by law and our privacy policy.

Is Stripe acting as a data processor or controller?

Stripe may act as either a data processor or controller for your verification data. A “controller” is the main decision-maker that exercises overall control over the purposes and means of the processing of personal data. A “processor” acts on behalf of and upon the instruction of the relevant controller (learn more).

Stripe is a data processor when they use data captured to verify your identity on behalf of the business (Soulmate4U) that requested their services. This means that if you’d like to delete the data Stripe are storing on behalf of Soulmate4U, you will need to reach out to Soulmate4U directly and they will need to take action to delete this data from our systems.

Stripe are also processing and storing your verification data in the United States, no matter where you are based or where the business (Soulmate4U) that requested verification is located.

Stripe is a data controller of non-biometric data like images of your ID documents, extracted data, web metadata, and in some cases advanced fraud detection signals. Stripe are a data controller of your biometric data as well for fraud and security purposes, and if you gave Stripe permission to use your data to improve Stripe’s verification technology, for improving their verification technology.

Stripe will only use your data as outlined in their Privacy Policy. This includes situations where they use information collected from you to identify and combat fraud, and authenticate you in other interactions with Stripe or Stripe merchants.

What is Stripe’s retention period for biometrics?

Data : Biometrics

Purpose : Verification, fraud and security purposes

Retention Period : Up to one year

Data : Biometrics

Purpose : Improve Stripe’s biometric technology (where separately agreed to)

Retention Period : Up to one year

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