In its latest move to become a distinctly secure social media platform, Facebook acquired Boston based Confirm.io, its 66th acquisition since 2005. The startup creates software to authenticate government-sanctioned IDs by third parties, even including biometric interface. Founded in 2015, Confirm.io has clients from finance, healthcare, insurance, retailer and other sectors. The company has already raised $4 million since its establishment.
The company announced the takeover on its website. “When we launched Confirm, our mission was to become the market’s trusted identity origination platform for which other multifactor verification services can build upon. Now, we’re ready to take the next step on our journey with Facebook. However, in the meantime this means all of our current digital ID authentication software offerings will be wound down,” the message on the website read.
Facebook’s last acquisition was in October 2017 when it bought tbh, an anonymous social media app accessible in US, intended for high school students. It is being assumed that the acquisition of Confirm.io is a part of the social media giant’s plan for making data and account recovery more secured and easier through expedited identification, with the probability of facial recognition functionality too. Facebook has been experimenting with technologies to make accounts safer and enhance the authentication process when users are locked out of their accounts or during cyber breaches.
In an interview with an online tech news publisher, Facebook commented, “We are excited to welcome the Confirm team to Facebook. Their technology and expertise will support our ongoing efforts to keep our community safe.” It is a complete takeover entailing shutting down of services for Confirm.io, as they merge with Facebook. The amount for the takeover has not been revealed.
