Persona (identity verification service)

Persona Identities, Inc.

Company type	Private
Industry	Software
Founded	October 2018; 7 years ago (October 2018)
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]

History

Rick Song and Charles Yeh founded Persona in 2018, developing identity infrastructure to help businesses fight fraud.^[3]

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.^[4][5][6]

Also in 2025, the popular game creation platform Roblox chose Persona to estimate player ages via a facial scan to unlock chat worldwide.^[7] 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^[8][9] and database-based verification.^[10]

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.^[11]

See also

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

References

1. Azevedo, Mary Ann (4 May 2021). "Persona lands $50M for identity verification after seeing 10x YoY revenue growth". TechCrunch. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
2. "US identity platform Persona hits $2bn valuation after $200m Series D". FinTech Futures. 2 May 2025. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
3. "Persona and Index Ventures talk identity, and identifying a good deal". TechCrunch. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
4. "Reddit introduces age verification in the UK ahead of new rules". BBC News. 14 July 2025. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
5. McConvey, Joel R. (15 July 2025). "Reddit deploys selfie and document age verification from Persona". Biometric Update. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
6. Yeo, Amanda (15 July 2025). "Reddit users in the UK must now upload selfies to access NSFW subreddits". Mashable. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
7. Malik, Aisha (2026-01-07). "Roblox now requires all users globally to complete age checks to access chat". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
8. "Persona raises $150M, renews development efforts in digital ID solutions and infrastructures". Biometric Update. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
9. "AI Is Making The Internet's Bot Problem Worse. This $2 Billion Startup Is On The Front Lines". Forbes. 30 April 2025. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
10. "Identity verification startup Persona raises $200M at $2B valuation". SiliconANGLE. 30 April 2025. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
11. Forristal, Lauren (15 July 2025). "Reddit rolls out age verification in the UK to comply with new rules". TechCrunch. Retrieved 15 November 2025.