Video identification makes its way into Spain
Article published in Diario Expansión Sección Economía Digital on 10/06/2022
Signed by M. Prieto
Víntegris explores multiple cases both in Public Administration and in the
the private sector of technology with probative legal value.
Remote video identification with evidentiary legal value is called to facilitate the management of a wide range of procedures by eliminating the need for attendance that is now required in many legal acts and contractual. This technology opens the door so that in the future, citizens can, for example, renew their DNI, register or carry out various procedures in the Civil Registry electronically with the maximum level of security.
“We are creating cases of multisector uses in which we change a procedure in which attendance is required for a platform that allows remote video identification with evidentiary legal value, which saves time and money for both parties,” explains Javier Bustillo, General Manager of the Spanish company Víntegris.
Born 18 years ago as a systems integrator, Víntegris develops systems and applications for managing digital certificates, legally binding digital signatures and strong authentication.
Since 2016, it has been a qualified provider of trust services; that is, it is authorized to create, verify and validate signatures.
The company, with 70 employees, has more than 250 clients. BBVA, Mapfre, Catalana Occidente, Aena, Meliá Hotels, the General Council of Medical Associations, the Government of Navarra or the Barcelona City Council, among others, use their digital identity protection services.
Opportunities
Bustillo underlines the opportunities opened up by remote video identification on a probative basis in public organizations and private companies.
“The Community of Madrid has just put out 10,000 video identifications to be able to relate to the administration with legal evidentiary value without having to go to a counter,” he illustrates.
There are also multiple use cases in the private sector. Financial services use this technology to verify the identity of their clients remotely through video identification with the maximum legal guarantees.
Bustillo illustrates other applications. For example, a hotel chain can improve the user experience by using this solution so that the client can prove his identity remotely through a previous video identification. Hence, he no longer has to go through reception. “After proving their identity, a barcode is generated with which the customer can pick up the key at a kiosk in the hotel or directly open the room if it has a barcode reader,” Bustillo illustrates.
Víntegris, based in Barcelona and Madrid, was acquired for an undisclosed amount in 2019 by the Swiss company Euronovate, which is part of the US multinational Topaz Systems, whose global revenues exceed 100 million dollars.
Expansion plan
With the support of Topaz, the company has designed a plan that contemplates increasing the workforce to exceed one hundred employees in 2023 and
undertake its expansion to Germany, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom, through the opening of offices or acquisitions.
“Both in Italy and Germany, we have completed the purchase of companies,” says Bustillo. “If today 5-6% of our turnover is international, the objective of the expansion plan is that in three years it will reach in general between 30-35%”, he advances.
AWARD
Digital signature in Congress
Víntegris recently won a tender from the Congress of Deputies to provide probative legal value and maximum security to the electronic signatures used by deputies. Javier Bustillo underlines the important step that this represents for Congress in terms of security and
reliability of the incorporation of a certifying authority, since the signatures of the deputies are endowed with the maximum legal probative value,
either in person or remotely. The Víntegris solution, which expects to finish the project this year, incorporates qualified time stamping, which validates
the exact time of the signatures in the event of possible discrepancies, as has occurred in the past, and eliminates doubts about its validity.
