Persona (identity verification service)

For other uses, see Persona.

Persona Identities, Inc.

Company type	Private
Industry	Software
Founded	October 2018;7 years ago (2018-10)
Founders	Rick Song Charles Yeh
Headquarters	San Francisco, California, United States
Services	Identity verification
Website	withpersona.com

Persona Identities, Inc. is an American identity verification company headquartered in San Francisco. The company develops infrastructure for businesses to verify individuals and organizations, manage onboarding, and comply with KYC/AML requirements. ^{[1] [2]} Persona is a consumer-facing platform, and uses the backend engine Paravision for the technical verification. ^[3]

History

Rick Song and Charles Yeh founded Persona in 2018, developing identity infrastructure to help businesses fight fraud. ^[4]

In 2025, the social media platform Reddit selected Persona to perform age checks for United Kingdom users as part of the Online Safety Act 2023. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

Also in 2025, the popular game creation platform Roblox chose Persona to estimate player ages via a facial scan to unlock chat worldwide. ^[8] The scan was enforced in 2026, stirring up major controversy with the players.

Products and services

Persona’s platform provides document and biometric identity verification, including proprietary selfie "liveness" checks ^{[9] [10]} and database-based verification. ^[11]

Reception and privacy concerns

Persona and other third‑party age verification providers have been cited in broader debates about the privacy and security implications of online age checks. Coverage of Reddit’s UK rollout focused on short photo retention windows and the separation of user account data from verification data, while also highlighting civil liberties concerns about expanding age restrictions online. ^[12]

See also

• Identity verification service
• Identity management
• Age verification system
• Regulatory technology

References

1. Azevedo, Mary Ann (May 4, 2021). "Persona lands $50M for identity verification after seeing 10x YoY revenue growth". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
2. "US identity platform Persona hits $2bn valuation after $200m Series D". FinTech Futures. May 2, 2025. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
3. Tucker, Hank (February 13, 2024). "The Future Of Wall Street And Enterprise: Fintech 50 2024". Forbes .
4. "Persona and Index Ventures talk identity, and identifying a good deal". TechCrunch. May 9, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
5. "Reddit introduces age verification in the UK ahead of new rules". BBC News. July 14, 2025. Retrieved July 24, 2025.
6. McConvey, Joel R. (July 15, 2025). "Reddit deploys selfie and document age verification from Persona". Biometric Update. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
7. Yeo, Amanda (July 15, 2025). "Reddit users in the UK must now upload selfies to access NSFW subreddits". Mashable. Retrieved July 24, 2025.
8. Malik, Aisha (January 7, 2026). "Roblox now requires all users globally to complete age checks to access chat". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
9. "Persona raises $150M, renews development efforts in digital ID solutions and infrastructures". Biometric Update. September 16, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
10. "AI Is Making The Internet's Bot Problem Worse. This $2 Billion Startup Is On The Front Lines". Forbes. April 30, 2025. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
11. "Identity verification startup Persona raises $200M at $2B valuation". SiliconANGLE. April 30, 2025. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
12. Forristal, Lauren (July 15, 2025). "Reddit rolls out age verification in the UK to comply with new rules". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 15, 2025.