{
  "id": 5037331,
  "title": "ITWeb TV Biz: Built for South African faces",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/02/itweb-tv-biz-built-for-south-african-faces",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-02T06:01:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "ITWeb",
    "slug": "itweb",
    "url": "https://www.itweb.co.za/article/itweb-tv-biz-built-for-south-african-faces/VgZey7JlporqdjX9"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "SoftiDoc, a South African biometrics company, develops software that detects live faces for credit bureaus, retailers, and micro-lenders. Their system uses a selfie and ID photo to confirm a person's identity within seconds. SoftiDoc's founder and MD, Jeremy Engelbrecht, explains that the software employs computer vision and mimics human perception to analyze facial features and depth maps. The company sits between the client and the customer, connecting at the point where an application or login begins. SoftiDoc's liveness facial biometrics are unique to the country, as most of the market resells technology from other sources. The software is trained on over one million real faces, replays, and masks to ensure accurate results for darker skin tones. SoftiDoc's locally built software allows for customization and flexible pricing in rands, making it possible for businesses to implement liveness checks quickly and efficiently.",
  "summary": "How depth maps, texture analysis and a stack of models tell a live person from a very good fake.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}