The resources used to guarantee the suitability of the data provided by those who deliver to the foodtech involve facial recognition and different types of data validation
Every day, people register on iFood to work as delivery people. With the human eye alone, it would be impossible to check the veracity of the data from all these candidates. Therefore, iFood uses different technologies to ensure the suitability of workers and bring greater security to everyone.
“We want to protect our entire ecosystem, especially delivery people. The absolute majority are honest people, but we need to beware of the minority that tries to defraud the system because this harms the image of delivery people in society”, says Viviane Mizuno Vissentini, head of iFood digital product.
These security technologies are applied from the first registration on the platform to everyday work — find out what they are below.
Automatic data checking
The first step to working as a delivery person on iFood is to pre-register on the app and send data such as identification documents, face photo, driver's license and bank account. The veracity of all this data is checked through an automated authenticity validation process.
Checking other data, such as criminal records and legal proceedings, is carried out by a provider integrated with public bodies to provide information about people who register on the app.
“All of this is automatically validated before approving the registration. We use technology to ensure that people who are pre-approved will be able to work”, says Rodrigo Zenji Hida, engineering manager at iFood.
Facial recognition
People approved in pre-registration undergo two more checks before being given the green light to act as delivery people. One of them uses Face Match, a facial recognition technology that evaluates photos of the face to ensure that they are authentic (that they are not, for example, a photo of another photo) and that the photos of the documents and the photo of the registration belong to the same person .
When professionals are already working as delivery people, Face Match is used at the beginning of the work day to ensure that the person using the app is the same person who registered on the platform. This action can be repeated a few times throughout the day, especially when the delivery person has not yet built a history with the company.
“The next step we are developing is the 3D photo, which shows different angles of people’s faces to create a facial recognition matrix”, adds Rodrigo.
Cell phone verification
Another security technology applied to approve the registration of new delivery people on the platform is Device Check, which validates the cell phone that will be used at work. This technology verifies that the device used is the same one that was registered in the app, that it is not a product that has been stolen and that it does not contain malicious applications, such as those that provide false location information, prohibited by the Terms and Conditions for operating on the platform. iFood. “The device must be configured to use the phone’s GPS, without VPN or other apps that make it difficult to truly locate the delivery people”, explains Rodrigo.
When they are already working as delivery people, professionals also have their cell phones checked periodically. iFood uses multi-factor authentication at the start of each workday to ensure that the cell phone used is the same as the one registered. For this, the foodtech sends a code that can only be viewed on the device registered with the app.
