ID Verification Flow

This guide explains the complete identity verification workflow in Cerebrum, from creating an invite to receiving verification results. The process involves three key participants and multiple steps to ensure secure and compliant identity verification.

Overview

The ID verification flow is designed to:

• Verify user identities through document scanning and biometric validation
• Ensure compliance with background screening regulations
• Provide real-time updates via webhooks
• Support multiple channels (web and mobile applications)

Flow Architecture

Key Participants

• Organization: The entity requesting identity verification for their users
• End User: The individual undergoing identity verification
• Cerebrum: The verification platform that processes and validates identity data

Complete Verification Process

Visual Flow Diagram

flowchart TD
    Start([Start]) --> OrgInvite[Organization Creates Invite]
    OrgInvite --> UserReceives[User Gets Invite]
    
    UserReceives --> InviteType{Invite Type?}
    InviteType -->|App Invite| DownloadApp[User Downloads iOS/Android App]
    InviteType -->|Web Invite| WebBrowser[User Uses Web Browser]
    
    DownloadApp --> StartFlow[User Starts Flow]
    WebBrowser --> StartFlow
    
    StartFlow --> AcceptInvite[Accept Invite]
    AcceptInvite --> CaptureSelfie[Capture Selfie]
    CaptureSelfie --> ScanFrontID[Scan Front ID]
    ScanFrontID --> ScanBackID[Scan Back ID]
    ScanBackID --> ReviewInfo[Review Scanned Information]
    ReviewInfo --> EnterSSN[Enter SSN]
    EnterSSN --> SignDisclosures[Sign Disclosures]
    SignDisclosures --> ExtraData{Extra Data Needed?}
    ExtraData -->|Yes| FillExtraData[Fill Out Extra Data]
    ExtraData -->|No| PlaceOrder[Place Order]
    FillExtraData --> PlaceOrder
    
    PlaceOrder --> CerebrumVerify[Cerebrum Verifies ID]
    
    CerebrumVerify --> VerifyDecision{Verification Result?}
    VerifyDecision -->|Looks Good| IDVerified[Mark Order: ID Verified]
    VerifyDecision -->|Issues Found| IDNotVerified[Mark Order: ID Not Verified]
    
    IDVerified --> OrgWebhook[Organization Receives Webhook<br/>Order Status & Score]
    IDNotVerified --> OrgWebhook
    
    OrgWebhook --> End([End])
    
    style OrgInvite stroke:#0066cc,stroke-width:2px
    style UserReceives stroke:#cc8800,stroke-width:2px
    style CerebrumVerify stroke:#8800cc,stroke-width:2px
    style OrgWebhook stroke:#0066cc,stroke-width:2px
    style IDVerified stroke:#2e7d32,stroke-width:2px
    style IDNotVerified stroke:#c62828,stroke-width:2px

Step-by-Step Process

1. Create Invite

Organization initiates the verification process by creating an invite for the end user.

Overview

The Create Invite endpoint initiates the identity verification workflow by generating a unique invitation for an applicant. This invitation can be delivered via email or generated as a direct link, and supports both mobile app and web-based verification flows.

Prerequisites

Before creating an invite, ensure you have:

1. Valid API Key: Your organization's API key with appropriate permissions
2. Package ID: The ID of the verification package to use (obtain from List Package Sets)
3. Applicant Information: At minimum, email address and phone number
4. Webhook URL (Recommended): Endpoint to receive order and invite notifications

API Endpoint

Reference: Create vID Invite

POST /v1/vid/invites
Content-Type: application/json
apikey: YOUR_API_KEY

Key Parameters:

Contact Information Object:

{
  "email": "string (required)",
  "phoneNumber": "string (required)",
  "firstName": "string (optional)",
  "middleName": "string (optional)",
  "lastName": "string (optional)",
  "suffix": "string (optional)",
  "dateOfBirth": "string (optional, YYYY-MM-DD)",
  "primaryContactMethod": "string (optional)"
}

Request Examples

POST /v1/vid/invites

{
  "packageId": "PAC-81eb7401",
  "contactInformation": {
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "phoneNumber": "+12025551234",
    "firstName": "John",
    "lastName": "Doe"
  },
  "deliveryMethod": "EMAIL",
  "postbackWebhookUrl": "https://api.yourcompany.com/webhooks/cerebrum"
}

POST /v1/vid/invites

{
  "packageId": "PAC-81eb7401",
  "contactInformation": {
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "phoneNumber": "+12025551234",
    "firstName": "Sarah",
    "middleName": "Jane",
    "lastName": "Smith",
    "dateOfBirth": "1990-05-15"
  },
  "deliveryMethod": "EMAIL",
  "postbackWebhookUrl": "https://api.yourcompany.com/webhooks/cerebrum",
  "web": true,
  "metadata": {
    "clientReferenceId": "EMP-2024-0158",
    "department": "Engineering",
    "positionTitle": "Senior Software Engineer",
    "internalNotes": "Priority candidate"
  },
  "onSubmitReturnUrl": "https://yourcompany.com/application/success"
}

POST /v1/vid/invites

{
  "packageId": "PAC-81eb7401",
  "contactInformation": {
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "phoneNumber": "+12025551234"
  },
  "deliveryMethod": "NONE",
  "web": true,
  "postbackWebhookUrl": "https://api.yourcompany.com/webhooks/cerebrum"
}

Response Format

Success Response (200 OK):

{
  "inviteId": "8faf4d07-6fec-43b8-a32c-cd549c30b5e9",
  "packageId": "PAC-81eb7401",
  "packageName": "Standard ID Verification",
  "vIDInviteUrl": "https://cerebrum.app.link/fMPAbcUQNXyb",
  "vIDWebInviteUrl": "https://cognition.cerebrum.com/vid/i/eyJ...",
  "vIDQRCode": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0K...",
  "vIDShortCode": "ABC123",
  "inviteExpiry": "2024-07-20T00:00:00.000Z",
  "inviteData": {
    "contactInformation": {
      "email": "[email protected]",
      "phoneNumber": "+12025551234",
      "firstName": "John",
      "lastName": "Doe"
    },
    "metadata": {
      "clientReferenceId": "EMP-2024-0158"
    }
  }
}

Response Fields:

Best Practices

2. User Completes Verification

The end user receives an invite via email and can complete verification through either the Cerebrum mobile app (iOS/Android) or web browser. They'll capture a selfie, scan both sides of their government-issued ID, review the extracted information, enter their SSN, sign required disclosures, and submit any additional data organization has configured. The entire process typically takes 2-3 minutes.

3. Cerebrum Verifies Identity

Cerebrum processes the submitted information, including document authentication (tamper detection, security features), facial recognition matching the selfie to ID photo and data cross-referencing against authoritative sources.

Processing Time: Typically 30 seconds to 2 minutes

4. Receive Updates

Once verification is complete, Cerebrum sends a webhook notification to your configured endpoint.

Here is sample webhook payload for Order status change event.

{
  "id": "ORD_8f3a92kd1",
  "idType": "order",
  "additionalMetadata": {
    "userId": "cust_4451",
  },
  "event": "ORDER_STATUS_CHANGE",
  "eventDate": "2026-02-08T14:32:10Z",
  "svixAppId": "app_92ksla81"
}

You can find complete information on how to set up webhook in Webhooks documentation.

4. Retrieve Order Details

After receiving the webhook notification, you can retrieve complete order details including verification results and extracted data.

Endpoint: GET /v1/orders/{id} - Get Order Details

Parameters:

Example Request:

curl -X GET "https://api.cerebrum.com/v1/orders/ORD-123456?expand=id_verification_data&expand=selfie" \
  -H "apikey: YOUR_API_KEY"

Response Fields:

Example Response:

{
  "id": "0bb0f6f8-459f-482a-952e-7caf029517f6",
  "status": "COMPLETE",
  "score": "No Alerts",
  "customScore": null,
  "alert": "NO_ALERTS_FOUND",
  "backgroundReportUrl": "https://cognition.cerebrum.com/order/0bb0f6f8-459f-482a-952e-7caf029517f6",
  "selfieUrl": "https://...",
  "orderDeliveryType": "vidScreen",
  "additionalMetadata": {},
  "idVerificationData": {
    "idScanBiometricMatch": true,
    "idScanData": {
      "name": {
        "firstName": "John",
        "middleName": "Michael",
        "lastName": "Doe",
        "suffix": ""
      },
      "gender": "male",
      "dateOfBirth": "1990-10-28",
      "address": {
        "addressLineOne": "123 Main Street",
        "addressLineTwo": "Apt 4B",
        "city": "San Francisco",
        "state": "CA",
        "postalCode": "94102",
        "country": "US"
      },
      "documentSpecificData": {
        "type": "DriversLicense",
        "number": "D1234567",
        "expiryDate": "2027-10-28",
        "issueDate": "2019-10-28"
      }
    },
    "applicantAliasData": {
      "names": [...],
      "addresses": [...],
      "socialSecurityNumber": "***-**-4649"
    }
  }
}

Expand Options:

Use the expand query parameter to include additional data in the response. You can specify multiple expand options by repeating the parameter.