A Message from Our Executive Director Dear Supporter, The digital identity landscape continues to evolve, bringing new opportunities and challenges for our community. From developments in the UK's digital verification framework to emerging research on identity risks and biometric security, Kantara's work remains closely connected to the issues shaping our industry. This month, we're highlighting the contributions of our members, sharing new resources from our Identity Insights series, and inviting the community to help shape an important new discussion on injection attack detection. We're also looking ahead to upcoming opportunities to connect, exchange ideas, and advance our shared work. Thank you to our members and partners for continuing to contribute their expertise to Kantara's mission. Regards, Kay Chopard Executive Director KANTARA COMMUNITY UPDATES UK Digital Identity Policy: Key Takeaways from Our Board Briefing At a recent meeting of Kantara's Board of Directors, John Peart, Chief Executive of the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), joined as a special guest to share his perspective on the evolving UK digital identity landscape. Several themes emerged with direct relevance to Kantara's work. The UK now has a statutory trust framework and register for digital verification services: providers must appear on this register to be used in certain use cases, including digital Right to Work and Right to Rent checks (effective October 1) and digital proof of age for alcohol. Alongside this, the previous government-led approach to a national digital ID has been set aside; government will continue to support a voluntary, ecosystem model based on the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, a meaningful policy shift that opens space for certified and registered commercial providers. Looking further ahead, OfDIA will also develop proposals for its permanent institutional home, as committed to in the government’s response to the 2021 consultation on digital identities and attributes. This is intended to provide long-term stability and market confidence. The UK is also exploring minimum quality floors for biometric testing. There are three areas where Kantara is well-placed to contribute: promoting consistency across frameworks and use cases, bringing testing into the assurance picture for DVSTF, and thinking through what OfDIA's future role in developing the market could hopefully be. Welcome to Kantara, Venn Factory! We're pleased to welcome Venn Factory as a Kantara corporate member! Eve Maler, a longtime Kantara member and Board member, has expanded her involvement by bringing Venn Factory into the organization as a corporate member. Eve has been connected to Kantara since its founding and helped launch User Managed Access (UMA) as the organization's first Work Group. As Eve explains:
“Kantara gives organizations a way to prove they deserve the trust they ask for; it also gives hard technical problems a place to get solved. I’ve seen both since advising on its founding and launching UMA as its first Work Group. Helping identity leaders show their work is what I do at Venn Factory, and I’m looking forward to doing more of it alongside Kantara’s other members.”
We're grateful for Eve's longstanding contributions and excited to have Venn Factory participating in Kantara's corporate membership community. Interested in becoming a member? Learn more at [Kantara Membership](https://kantarainitiative.org/memberships/). Identity Insights: New DIRU & AIRU Interviews Now Available Kantara Initiative’s first ever Identity Insights interviews are now live! Join Gracie Liberman, Marketing and Communications Lead at Kantara, and John Fiske, Chair of the Digital Identity Risk Discussion Group, for two conversations exploring the evolving risks facing digital identity and AI. In the first interview, John discusses the 2026 Digital Identity Risk Universe (DIRU), a resource mapping risks across the digital identity landscape, from fraudulent identity representation to mass surveillance and emerging AI-related threats. The second interview explores the Agentic Identity Risk Universe (AIRU), a companion report identifying 76 distinct risks associated with AI agents and examining how these risks differ from those affecting human digital identities. Both resources are freely available through Kantara Initiative, offering valuable insights for organizations and professionals navigating an increasingly complex identity landscape. Watch both interviews: - [Exploring the 2026 Digital Identity Risk Universe (DIRU)](https://youtu.be/hQBOowcyP6g) - [Exploring the Agentic Identity Risk Universe (AIRU)](https://youtu.be/28pnDVGRMTA) Explore the reports: - [Download the 2026 Digital Identity Risk Universe](https://kantarainitiative.org/download/the-digital-identity-risk-universe-20...) - [Download the Agentic Identity Risk Universe report](https://kantarainitiative.org/download/the-digital-identity-risk-universe-20...) Watch the conversations and explore the reports to learn more about the risks shaping the future of digital identity and agentic AI. Help Shape Kantara's Next Discussion Group As biometric identity verification systems evolve, injection attacks are becoming an important area of focus for the digital identity community. Unlike attacks that attempt to fool a camera directly, injection attacks bypass the camera and introduce manipulated data, such as deepfakes or replayed videos, directly into a remote identity verification system. Understanding how these attacks work, how they can be detected, and how evaluation results should be interpreted is essential to assessing trust in identity verification. Kantara Member Paravision has proposed a new Injection Attack Discussion Group (IA DG) to bring together experts from standards organizations, evaluation laboratories, technology vendors, and public- and private-sector relying parties. The proposed group will focus on four key areas: - Establishing a shared understanding: Developing a common framework for describing injection attacks, how they occur, and where they affect identity verification processes. - Connecting standards and evaluation frameworks: Clarifying the scope and relationship of existing standards and testing approaches, including CEN/TS 18099 and ISO/IEC 25456. - Interpreting evaluation results: Exploring what different assessments demonstrate, the coverage they provide, and how organizations can use results to inform decisions. - Improving industry collaboration: Considering ways to exchange threat information and communicate findings while balancing transparency, security, and intellectual property. The proposed group aims to help bridge gaps between existing efforts, giving the industry a more consistent way to discuss injection attacks and understand the evidence used to assess detection capabilities. Who should participate? Kantara is seeking input from professionals working in digital identity, biometrics, security, standards, evaluation, privacy, and related fields. Relevant perspectives include those of identity verification providers, evaluation laboratories, standards and scheme owners, researchers, legal practitioners, and relying parties in sectors such as financial services, healthcare, and government. Participation is an opportunity to help shape the group's direction and priorities from the outset. Interested in contributing? Learn more about the proposal and express your interest [here](https://kantarainitiative.org/injection-attack-discussion-group-iadg/). Please note: The Injection Attack Discussion Group is proposed and has not yet been established. Under Kantara's current Operating Procedures, Members may participate as voting participants, while non-members may participate in a non-voting capacity. Group leadership is elected from voting participants. EVENTS Meet Kantara at Upcoming Conferences Kantara will be represented at four significant events this autumn. Identiverse Washington D.C. 2026 — Oxon Hill, MD November 9–10, 2026 · MGM National Harbor Hotel Thrilled to partner with Identiverse Washington D.C. this November! Join Maria Vachino, Assurance Program Scheme Owner of Kantara Initiative, for “Who Verifies the Verifiers? Inside Kantara’s Identity Assurance Program" and explore how identity assurance builds digital trust. Save 50% on registration with code IDVDC26-KANTARA50%. Register [here](https://events.identiverse.com/washington-dc/register?code=IDVDC26-KANTARA50...). Future Identity Festival — London, UK November 9–10, 2026 · The Brewery This dynamic identity event brings together attendees and speakers across eight content stages including dedicated tracks for fraud & fincrime and IAM. This year's agenda spans the challenges shaping the field right now: from scaling digital ID wallets from pilot to production to governing the explosion of non-human and machine identities. Kantara is proud to be an industry partner for this year's event. Come find us! State-Endorsed Digital Identity (SEDI) Summit — Park City, Utah November 17–19, 2026 · Grand Summit Hotel Kantara Initiative is excited to participate in this year's SEDI Summit, bringing together state leaders, policymakers, and technology experts to explore the future of privacy-first digital identity. Kantara's Executive Director will be presenting on a panel titled "Trusted Identity Scale" speaking on Kantara's assurance program and why it matters. Annual General Membership Meeting 2026 — Virtual December 15, 2026 · 10:00-11:30 am EST Kantara members are invited to join the upcoming Annual General Membership Meeting, an opportunity to connect with fellow members, share updates from across the community, and discuss Work Group and Discussion Group achievements and ongoing initiatives. The meeting will provide an opportunity to reflect on the community's progress and look ahead to the work still to come. Please make plans to attend and register in advance [here](https://kantarainitiative.org/agm/). Find us at all four events. To get in touch, contact us [here.](https://kantarainitiative.org/contact-us/) MEMBERSHIP Will you join the Kantara Initiative in 2026? The Kantara Initiative advances innovation through the strength of its growing membership, expanded conformity assessment programs, and commitment to quality and excellence in its staff and program offerings. Membership in the Kantara Initiative provides chances to participate in profile-raising activities and achieve recognition in the organization's outputs, including conference and media presentations, leadership in work groups, and other leadership opportunities. Through our many Work and Discussion Groups, events, and reports, members have the opportunity to advance their own work in emerging areas. We strive to advance the trustworthy use of identity assurance and personal data in the market through the expertise, efforts, and vision of our groups. Membership offers an unparalleled opportunity to amplify your visibility within the industry, among relying parties, decision-makers, and policy leaders. Your contributions solve problems and build confidence in identity solutions across industries. Come join us! Sign up for membership in the Kantara Initiative [here](https://kantarainitiative.org/memberships/membership-fees/).