Spanish Regulator Updates the ID Verification and KYC Tools

2017 ended pretty successfully for the Spanish gambling market. It proved that online gambling in Spain was much appreciated by Spanish players, considering the fact that more and more players have been joining online casinos all the time. Since the Spanish watchdog noticed that online gambling in Spain is continuously growing, it has set out to update the tools for ID verification and KYC for safer and fairer gambling. In collaboration with the National Police Authority and the Spanish Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre, the Spanish regulator Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego has published the kit with the aim of improving the mobile and online identification of players.

The Reason Behind Updating Tools

Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego has introduced the kit in order to facilitate online gambling operators who are authorized to operate in the online gambling market on Spanish territory to correctly identify their players. The freshly updated tools will be beneficial for age verification in particular, but will also serve operators to control better and faster whether the player is included in the Register of Gambling Access Prohibitions.

As the watchdog said, these tools are the most crucial ones for control and protection which operators must equip their gaming platforms with. This utility kit will allow easy and simple implementation of the use of electronic identification to identify the players.

On the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego’s website, operators can already find the tools available, which includes examples and documents on how to implement the use of electronic ID in mobile applications for checking the players’ age, checking the expiration dates of the certificates and ID data extraction.

The kit is based on DNIeDroid component which is a middleware developed for the purpose of communication with the electronic DNI (identity card). In its latest version, it implements the contactless interface via NFC, with which the DNIe 3.0 works, and the support for the structure of travel documents. It includes the DNIeDroid library, a project in Android Studio, documents in JavaDoc format and a developer integration manual and examples of integration.

DOJ’s Statement

The watchdog stated that this initiative, the tool updates, will help to facilitate the correct identification of players who enjoy online gaming platforms, and thus will strengthen the security mechanisms and the protection of underage and other vulnerable sectors, minimizing the risks related to identity and promoting a key element for secure identification such as electronic ID in mobile devices.

As the DOJ said, due to the high tech complexity of the tools, the developers are given complete and modular, fully functional examples. They are based on DNIe signature certificates and the use of authentication.

The developer can download the source code and use it as a starting point and can download the app and test it. They can also download the explanatory documents as a support to the process of the App’s adaptation to their specific needs.

The Kit

The package for the developer consists of Full source code of three fully operational Android Apps (Android Application Reading, Android application Authentication. Android Signature Application) and Explanatory documents for developers (Documents Android Apps).

The kit can be found on the Spanish DNIe website, too, where developers can download all the related documents.