Identity Match verifies who owns a mobile phone number by checking if the name, address, and date of birth provided match the information associated with that number from reliable sources like telecommunications companies. The Identity Match API then shows the match results for each piece of data, giving customers a detailed look at how closely the user's identity aligns with the information stored by the authoritative source.
To make an Identity Match request, add identity_match to the optional query parameter Fields when making a standard Lookup request, as well as any optional identity-based query parameters described in this section.
_10curl -X GET "https://lookups.twilio.com/v2/PhoneNumbers/{PhoneNumber}?Fields=identity_match&FirstName=John" \ -u_10$TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID:$TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN
Release Stage and Access: Generally Available. Certain carriers require approval to start the process. Submit this form to request access. Once access is granted, all successful queries will be billed to your account. Rates are determined by the location of the user being identified and can be found in the table below. To discuss pricing in more detail or to see if you qualify for volume based discounts, please contact Twilio sales.
Identity Match is accessible for US phone numbers by default. You do not need to submit an access request.
Identity Match requires pre-approval from mobile network operators prior to gaining access and is supported in select countries.
We are supporting countries in Europe, Latin America, and North America listed in the table below. Countries marked with a * symbol require additional carrier approval before using Identity Match.
Europe
Latin America
North America
What is the recommended implementation of Identity Match
Identity Match is most frequently used in your new user onboarding workflow. We suggest submitting all of the end user PII (including FirstName, LastName, and AddressLine1 at a minimum for best results) whenever a new user signs up for your service. Depending on how much information you decide to validate with the Identity Match API, you can decide if you want to leverage our Summary Score or if you would prefer to use more sophisticated logic based on individual parameter match values. If you are validating more than the three parameters mentioned above, we suggest using your own match logic, as the Summary score will only be based on those three parameters.
What is considered a "good match rate?"
What is considered a "good match rate" for Identity Match really depends on the attribute(s) you focus on for your particular use case, and the quality of the data that you are sending through to the Identity Match API.
For example, imagine an end user is signing up for an online bank account - they are very likely to provide all the correct information. In turn, this will drive higher match rates across all data elements when that customer data is compared with data held at our authoritative sources.
Now imagine an end user is signing up for a social media account, they may not necessarily provide all the correct data to the customer. In turn, this will impact match rates when that end user data is compared with data held at our authoritative sources.
Therefore, it is your use case that determines which data elements are important and what you should look for when evaluating the responses from the API. The quality of the data supplied for those data elements will have a direct impact on the output from Identity Match.
How does Twilio measure the accuracy of our data providers?
We ensure accuracy of a given provider when we onboard them - we validate accuracy using a truth file.
Truth files start with PII match data that results in an "exact match" - then, a series of permutations of this data are generated to gradually reduce the match quality to "no match." If the resultant match value at each stage are as expected, it helps us to confirm the accuracy of that provider.
Can Identity Match requests contain multiple addresses?
Currently, the Identity Match API only allows for a single input data set (name/address/DOB/NationalId against the end-user's mobile phone number), and returns a single set of match results in response.
You can include parameters in your request that represent user-provided information. Lookup will provide match scores for how the given parameters compare against authoritative phone-based data sources.
Most of these parameters are optional for phone numbers based in most countries. However, some countries require the inclusion of certain parameters and have different data formatting rules. If a country-required parameter is not included, Error 60617 will be returned. See the Query parameter country requirements section for more information.
| Query Parameter | Description | Max Character Length |
|---|---|---|
FirstName | User's first name. | 128 Characters |
LastName | User's last name. | 128 Characters |
AddressLine1 | User's first address line. Example: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW. | 256 Characters |
AddressLine2 | User's second address line. Example: Suite 2. | 256 Characters |
City | User's city. | 128 Characters |
State | User's country subdivision, such as state, province, or locality. | 128 Characters |
PostalCode | User's postal zip code. | 10 Characters |
AddressCountryCode | User's country, up to two characters. | 2 Characters |
NationalId | User's national ID, such as SSN. | 128 Characters |
DateOfBirth | User's date of birth, in YYYYMMDD format. Example: 19901213. | 8 Characters |
Note: We are not accepting new customers for Identity Match in Australia at this time.
AddressLine1: Optional parameter. Use only the address formats in the examples below for flats, units, or apartments.
| Address description | AddressLine1 formatting options |
|---|---|
| For flat 2 at 14 Smith Street | Flat 2 14 Smith St, 2/14 Smith St, or F 2 14 Smith St |
| For unit 2 at 14 Smith Street | Unit 2 14 Smith St, 2/14 Smith St, or U 2 14 Smith St |
| For apartment 2 at 14 Smith Street | 2/14 Smith or APT 2 14 Smith St |
AddressLine2: Do not include this parameter, this information should be included in AddressLine1.
State: Optional parameter. Use state abbreviations such as "QLD" instead of the full state name.
FirstName: Required parameter. For a name with multiple words, only the first word should be used for this field. For example, the name "Luis Carlos Teixeira Brito Junior" should be set as "Luis".
LastName: Required parameter. For a name with multiple words, every word after the first should be used for this field. For example, the name "Luis Carlos Teixeira Brito Junior" should be set as "Carlos Teixeira Brito Junior".
AddressLine1: Required parameter. Use the format "streetName streetNumber BL blNumber APT aptNumber neighborhoodName". For example: "RUA COSTA ESMERALDA 50 BL 14 APT 22 CENTR".
AddressLine2: Do not include this parameter, this information should be included in AddressLine1.
City: Do not include this parameter, it cannot be evaluated in Brazil.
AddressCountryCode: Do not include this parameter, it cannot be evaluated in Brazil.
PostalCode: Do not include this parameter, it cannot be evaluated in Brazil.
DateOfBirth: Optional parameter. Use the format YYYYMMDD.
FirstName: Required parameter.
LastName: Required parameter.
AddressLine1: Required parameter. The street name and house number should be used for this field. For example: "Immermannstraße 26", "Oderbergerstrasse 12".
City: Required parameter.
PostalCode: Required parameter
DateOfBirth: Optional parameter. Use the format YYYYMMDD.
FirstName: Required parameter.
LastName: Required parameter.
AddressLine1: Required parameter. The street name and house number or house name should be used for this field. Include both the house number and name if they are available.
PostalCode: Required parameter
FirstName: Required parameter.
LastName: Required parameter.
AddressLine1: Required parameter. The street type, street name, and building name/number should be used for this field. For example: "via Garibaldi 27" or "27 via Garibaldi", "Via Giacomo Quarenghi 34" or "34 Via Giacomo Quarenghi".
PostalCode: Optional parameter. Field must be five digits long. For example: "00015", "80044", "00145".
FirstName: Optional parameter. The first initial should be used for this field. For example, the name "Luca" should be set as "L".
AddressLine1: Optional parameter. The street name and house number should be used for this field. For example: "Jaarbeursplein 6A", "Joris van Andringastraat 172"
PostalCode: Optional parameter. Field must be composed of four digits and two characters with no spaces. For example: "3054SP", "3521AL", "1055VV".
DateOfBirth: Optional parameter. Use the format YYYYMMDD.
Lookup generates scores to represent the level of match between the user-provided information and the authoritative information.
| Score Value | Description |
|---|---|
exact_match | The user's data matches the mobile number's data exactly. |
high_partial_match | The user's data almost exactly matches the mobile number's data. For example, "Robere" is a high partial match for "Robert". |
partial_match | The user's data moderately matches the mobile number's data. For example, "Bob", "Rob", or "R" is a partial match for "Robert". |
no_match | The user's data does not match the mobile number's data at all. |
no_data_available | Data was not available to compare to the user's data. |
The following additional response properties are returned for an Identity Match request.
| Response Property | Description |
|---|---|
first_name_match | Level of match for FirstName attribute assigned to the submitted mobile number. One of: exact_match, high_partial_match, partial_match, no_match, no_data_available. |
last_name_match | Level of match for LastName attribute assigned to the submitted mobile number. One of: exact_match, high_partial_match, partial_match, no_match, no_data_available. |
address_line_match | Level of match for AddressLine1 and AddressLine2 attributes assigned to the submitted mobile number. One of: exact_match, high_partial_match, partial_match, no_match, no_data_available. |
city_match | Level of match for City attribute assigned to the submitted mobile number. One of: exact_match, no_match, no_data_available. |
state_match | Level of match for State attribute assigned to the submitted mobile number. One of: exact_match, no_match, no_data_available. |
postal_code_match | Level of match for PostalCode attribute assigned to the submitted mobile number. One of: exact_match, no_match, no_data_available. |
address_country_match | Level of match for AddressCountryCode assigned to the submitted mobile number. One of: exact_match, no_match, no_data_available. |
date_of_birth_match | Level of match for DatefBirth attribute assigned to the submitted mobile number. One of: exact_match, no_match, no_data_available. Note: for users in Canada we also support high_partial_match and partial_match. |
national_id_match | Level of match for NationalId attribute assigned to the submitted mobile number. One of: exact_match, no_match, no_data_available. |
summary_score | A single summary score that indicates overall level of match, ranging from 0 (no match) to 100 (exact match) derived from the first_name_match, last_name_match, and address_line_match properties. |
The summary_score indicates an overall level of match, ranging from 0 (no match) to 100 (exact match) with possible values being 0, 40, 80, or 100. The summary_score property is not a percentage score, its value is derived from the values of the first_name_match, last_name_match, and address_line_match properties.
The table below shows how the summary_score is calculated in different scenarios.
| first_name_match | last_name_match | address_line_match | summary_score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Any positive match score: exact_match, high_partial_match, partial_match | Any positive match score: exact_match, high_partial_match, partial_match | Any positive match score: exact_match, high_partial_match, partial_match | 100 |
| Any positive match score: exact_match, high_partial_match, partial_match | Any negative match score: no_match, no_data_available | Any positive match score: exact_match, high_partial_match, partial_match | 80 |
| Any positive match score: exact_match, high_partial_match, partial_match | Any positive match score: exact_match, high_partial_match, partial_match | Any negative match score: no_match, no_data_available | 40 |
| Any negative match score: no_match, no_data_available | Any positive match score: exact_match, high_partial_match, partial_match | Any positive match score: exact_match, high_partial_match, partial_match | 20 |
| Any positive match score: exact_match, high_partial_match, partial_match | Any negative match score: no_match, no_data_available | Any negative match score: no_match, no_data_available | 0 |
| Any negative match score: no_match, no_data_available | Any positive match score: exact_match, high_partial_match, partial_match | Any negative match score: no_match, no_data_available | 20 |
| Any negative match score: no_match, no_data_available | Any negative match score: no_match, no_data_available | Any positive match score: exact_match, high_partial_match, partial_match | 0 |
| Any negative match score: no_match, no_data_available | Any negative match score: no_match, no_data_available | Any negative match score: no_match, no_data_available | 0 |
Valid phone number (paid)