Trust Has Been Outsourced

Every organisation depends on trust but increasingly they are learning not to trust blindly. Banks no longer trust that customers are who they claim to be, employers do not necessarily trust qualifications, solicitors do not take identity for granted.

Regulatory requirements and accelerating identity fraud have imposed new norms where individuals are repeatedly required to verify their identity through the provision of sensitive documents.

Organisations rarely collect documents for their own sake; in part they do so because they are obliged to but they are also seeking confidence. Confidence that the information presented is genuine, confidence that it is current, confidence that it can be relied on.

For decades the simplest way of achieving that confidence has been to request a copy of a passport, driving licence, proof of address, or insurance certificate.

Another copy has become synonymous with another opportunity to establish trust. But copies of personal information come with responsibilities. They must be stored, protected, governed and eventually deleted.

Every additional copy expands the number of places in which sensitive information exists. This is not the consequence of inadequate organisational behaviour, rather the consequence of an architecture that has evolved around possession.

Trust relies on documents, documents become copies, copies are distributed across thousands of organisations. The intention is rational but the means by which the intention is executed deserve reconsideration.

Perhaps organisations have never really wanted possession; perhaps they simply wanted confidence.

If confidence can increasingly be achieved without unnecessary possession, both individuals and organisations stand to benefit.