LinkedIn introduces identity verification feature in India

LinkedIn India has launched its identity verification feature in the country. The professional networking platform has over 100 million users in India and the new feature is to build trust within the community.

Ashutosh Gupta, Country Manager at LinkedIn India, announced the new feature in a blog post. "In India, the ID verification is performed by HyperVerge, a third-party identity verification service that leverages DigiLocker, which is a digital wallet for government IDs in India, including Aadhaar. This verification is available for those with a valid Aadhaar number and an India phone number and will be shown on your LinkedIn profile."

In the blog post titled 'Building Trust Together', the company said: "Having an ID verification means that the individual’s government-issued ID is verified by one of LinkedIn’s verification partners."

The verification feature is going to be free for all eligible members in India.

The executive added that the new feature will help you with a greater chance of finding professional opportunities.

The blog post also included a six-step tutorial on how to verify your profile. Nicknamed 'V.E.R.I.F.Y', it requires you to provide your Aadhaar number and an active phone number to receive an OTP.

V: Visit the "About this profile" section on your LinkedIn profile and click on ‘Verify with Aadhaar' to initiate the verification process.

E: Enter your Aadhaar number on the Digilocker screen.

R: Receive an OTP on your registered mobile number.

I: Instant verification by Hyperverge using DigiLocker If you don't have a DigiLocker account, you will be signed up for one automatically.

F: Complete a liveness check; take a selfie to do a face match with your Aadhaar photo.

Y: Click on "Yes, Share with LinkedIn" for the verification to be added to your LinkedIn profile.

If the verification attempt is unsuccessful for any reason, users can do the process again. The blog post also assured that LinkedIn does not have access to any sensitive data from the Aadhaar card and only receives name, city, state, and country along with the year of your birth. None of these are visible to others but may be used for security purposes.

People who don't have an Aadhaar card can verify using work email or workplace credentials.