The Hague, November 9, 2011 - At the Identity.Next'11 conference today, the Australian company, Edentiti, has won the Novay Digital Identity Award for the best new concept or product in the field of digital identity.  Edentiti provides online identity verification, which prevents identity theft by checking information from various online data sources, and does so under the control of the end user.

Identity verification is the process of verifying if someone is who he or she claims to be.  It can be used to prevent identity theft, for age verification where the purchase of alcohol or gambling is concerned and for several other reasons. What the jury found particularly appealing about Edentiti is the efficient and innovative manner in which they rely on existing online identities that a user has, and use these as a basis for identity proofing for new online services.

In the system that Edentiti offers, individuals can verify their identity by proving they have existing relationships with organizations.  Proof is obtained by the individual using the Privacy Principle that says that individuals can ask any organization that might hold personal information on them 'Do you have any information about me? Yes or No?'  The number and quality of the 'Yes' relationships determine the trust in the verification.

The Edentiti identity verification product is also provided through Deloitte Digital under the brand name greenIDâ„¢, addressing Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) legislation.

Hermen van der Lugt, director of the Novay Research Institute and chairman of the jury: 'It is easier for end-users and less expensive for online businesses than traditional face-to-face identity verification approaches.  Additionally, Edentiti lets the individual control the whole process of identity verification, which is a big plus,considering the issue of privacy sensitivity.' Edentiti has an approach and business model that allows for incremental growth: in number of users, in number of customers and in the level of trustworthiness of the identity verification.  The jury believes that their approach has the potential to be expanded to other countries through partnerships.  Business sectors which already use the system include Banking, Superannuation, Stockbroking and Online Gaming.  More on Edentiti's approach can be found at www.edentiti.com.

The award is part of the IDentity.Next'11 conference in The Hague, organized by the IDentity.Next foundation which focuses on international developments in digital identity.  With the award, IDentity.Nextand research based ICT consultancy Novay want to recognize and support new developments and innovations that are shaping the future of digital identity.  Co-organizer of the conference is EEMA, Europe's leading independent, non-profit e-Identity & Security Association.  The conference brings together experts, professionals and industrial parties to discuss the latest developments in the field of digital identity.  More information about the award and the jury is available at www.identitynext.eu.