A Brief History Of Identity Verification

Identity verification dates back thousands of years. Long before our identities were digitized, encoded in JWT tokens, and stored in databases, people used language, artifacts, and paper records to prove who they were. Research even suggests that human faces evolved to better signal individual identity, making us more easily recognizable to others.

Identity verification has come a long way: We moved from simple face-to-face recognition to using sophisticated digital tools. Let’s take a closer look at some key moments in this transformation.

100,000 years ago: appearance, jewelry, and clothes

Initially, we relied on memory to identify the distinguishing characteristics of other humans, such as their appearance or the sound of their voice. Formal identity verification wasn’t really necessary because people were known in their communities and didn’t travel very far. Later on, we started using jewelry, tattoos, clothes, and other distinctive markers of identity.

3,800 BC: The first census record

The Babylonian Empire initiated the first known census in history to keep a record of people and resources. The data was recorded on clay tiles. The primary goal was to find out how much food was needed to feed the population. The figures also gave an idea of how many men were available for military service and how much they could be taxed.

Other ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Persia, Greece, and India conducted their own censuses. The ancient Romans held censuses every five years under the supervision of a high-ranking official—the censor—and were particularly advanced in their data collection. They not only counted people but also gathered information about each citizen: how wealthy the person was, where their family came from, and how much property they owned.

14th–17th centuries: handwritten signatures

During the Renaissance, handwritten signatures became increasingly common as a way to assert personal identity and responsibility. This change reflected a broader cultural emphasis on individuality in commerce, craftsmanship, and other fields. It was especially prominent in the art world, with artists starting to sign their works. Signatures allowed artists to claim ownership and distinguish their talent from that of their peers.

1414: First passport

The first passports resembling modern ones were introduced under King Henry V of England, who created the documents for use by English citizens traveling abroad. These “safe passage” papers were meant to ensure the holder’s protection in foreign nations.

1829: First personal document files 

The Industrial Revolution brought profound social and economic changes, creating a greater need for formal identity systems. As people migrated to cities and industrial centers, governments and employers faced new challenges in registering and verifying individuals.

In 1829, the British Parliament introduced reforms that focused on printed police records. This led to the creation of personal document files, where relevant data was stored and linked to individuals using unique identifiers. These early records can be seen as precursors to modern government databases linked to ID cards.

1840: First photographs

In 1840, William Henry Fox Talbot developed the negative-positive photographic system. This invention eventually transformed the identification industry, although it was not until after World War II that photo IDs became widespread.

1859: First fingerprinting system

In 1859, Sir William James Herschel, a British colonial officer in India, noticed that fingerprints remain stable over time and are unique to an individual. While not the first to recognize this, Herschel pioneered the use of fingerprints for personal identification. By 1877, he was using fingerprints as signatures on contracts and legal documents to prevent signature repudiation.

This practice later evolved into the Henry System of fingerprint classification, adopted by Scotland Yard in 1901 to identify criminals. In 1902, the New York City Civil Service Commission started using fingerprints to identify applicants for civil service jobs. Many decades later, technological advancements made automated searchable fingerprint systems possible: FBI’s IAFIS became fully operational in 1999.

1920s: First governmental population registers

By the 1920s, many Western European countries had established population registers. These were continuously updated to include the name, age, gender, address, and marital status of an individual. Initially administered at a municipal level, these registers soon became more centralized, as the government increasingly needed registers for voting, education, welfare, police, and the courts.

1930s: First citizen ID numbers

In 1935, the Social Security Administration (SSA) was formed in the United States, issuing the first social security number (SSN) in 1936. During the 1930s and 1940s, many countries adopted unique identification numbers for their citizens. Most of the nationwide numbering schemes have remained largely unchanged to this day.

1940s: Formal use of photo ID cards

In the 1940s, ID cards with photos and personal information were starting to be used for identity verification. 

1960s: First computer password

The real breakthrough in verification technology happened in the 1960s with the creation of the first computer password at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Passwords were chosen for their simplicity compared to other available solutions. After all, machine resources were limited, and nobody wanted to spend too much computing power on authentication. 

Ironically, one day in 1966, a software bug misplaced the system’s welcome message and its master password file, so everyone who logged in saw the entire list of passwords. This incident is considered the first database leak of its kind.

1977: Digital records and smart identity cards

In 1977, the US computerized its public paper records and created a program to cross-reference information between governments and banks. The government could now determine whether a citizen was receiving legitimate funds and paying taxes.

This digitalization laid the groundwork for smart identity cards. Germany, Singapore, the Czech Republic, and Spain were among the first countries to start introducing smart cards in the late 1980s. The goal was to consolidate in a single card several essential public services including citizenship, healthcare, and finances.

1983: The Internet and digital identity

The invention of ARPANET marked the beginning of the Internet as we know it. The groundbreaking digital infrastructure could connect people all over the world, but it was built without an identity layer, which meant users were unable to verify who and what they were connecting to. While not explicitly designed this way, the Internet’s anonymity is one of its defining and most controversial features—and it shapes identity management to this day.

2000s: Advanced biometrics in the digital age

The digital age brought the integration of biometric data into large-scale databases. The ability to store and analyze vast amounts of biometric information transformed identity management. Governments and organizations could now use sophisticated algorithms to process and interpret biometric data on a massive scale. In 2004, the US deployed its first statewide automated palm print databases. In 2010, India debuted Aadhar: the world’s largest biometric digital ID system.

At the same time, biometric technology itself advanced, including improvements in speech recognition, iris recognition, facial recognition, and DNA sequencing.

2013: Biometrics on mobile devices

In 2013, Apple introduced Touch ID on iPhone 5s, bringing biometric identification to the consumer market. Apple’s Touch ID was supplemented with FaceID in 2017. Fingerprints and facial recognition rapidly became standard features in mobile devices.

2022: Passkeys

In 2022, passkeys were introduced as a more secure alternative to traditional passwords. Developed by the FIDO Alliance, passkeys use public key cryptography, letting users authenticate via biometrics or device PINs instead of passwords. This enhances security and simplifies the login process. The technology has already seen significant adoption and continues to gain traction.

Moving forward

History demonstrates how the nature of identity verification has shifted over the years, growing more complex and extending into nearly every aspect of our lives. A periodic census, for instance, was introduced by nation-states to collect data for providing services to citizens. Today, companies often use this aggregated census data to fine-tune marketing strategies and target specific demographics.

Naturally, the challenges identity professionals face have also evolved. We now have an unprecedented need to prevent identity fraud, while managing the public’s low tolerance for complicated authentication processes—all at the age of surveillance capitalism and growing privacy concerns. The choices we make today in balancing security, privacy, and usability will shape the future of identity verification and, ultimately, the society we live in.