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Identity Verification

Last Updated: September 30, 2026

Passages put a small crew on one boat for days or weeks, often far from shore, with people who have never met. We take the privacy of our members seriously, especially when a government-issued ID is involved. This page explains how identity verification works, who runs it, what we keep, and what we never see.

1. Why captains and crew verify

A captain hands over a boat and the safety of everyone aboard. Crew hand over their plans and sometimes a berth, a flight and a few weeks of their year. Verification tells the other side that the person behind a profile is the person on the ID they showed, so you know who is actually joining you at the dock.

Verification is optional. Members who complete it get a visible ID verified badge on their profile, cards, applications and chats, and are listed ahead of members who have not verified in applicant lists and crew search. Nobody is hidden for not verifying. The badge does not say anything about seamanship, qualifications or how safe a boat is: for that, read profiles and reviews, ask to see certificates and safety kit, and talk on a video call before you agree to sail.

We may, in future, ask every member to verify before applying to or posting a passage. If we do, we will tell members first and update this page.

2. Who runs the verification: Didit

We do not check IDs ourselves. We use Didit, a specialised identity verification provider, to do it for us.

2.1 Didit as a separate data controller

Didit handles your ID document and the related biometric check directly, so it acts as a separate data controller for that data, under its own privacy terms and retention rules. You can read them on Didit's website.

3. How it works, step by step

  1. You choose "Verify identity" in the Trust and verification tab of your profile. Nothing is sent to Didit until you do.
  2. We open a session with Didit and send you to its hosted page. Didit also emails you the same link, so you can carry on from another device if the page did not open. If you leave part-way, the Continue verification button on your profile takes you back to the same session.
  3. On Didit's page (not ours) you photograph your ID and complete a short liveness check, usually a selfie video. This goes from your device to Didit and does not pass through our servers.
  4. Didit checks the document and the selfie on its own systems.
  5. Didit tells us the outcome (approved or declined) and the first and last name read from your ID. It does not send us the document, your selfie or any biometric data.
  6. We compare that name with the name on your profile. If they match you get the ID verified badge. If they do not, we ask you to correct your profile name and try again. Your name is locked once you are verified, so it stays matched to your ID.

A session that is never finished expires. We then reset your status to "not started", tell you in the app, and you can begin again at any time.

4. What Global Crew Finder stores

On your member record we keep only this:

  • Your verification status: not started, in progress, verified or failed
  • An opaque Didit session reference, used for support only
  • While a session is in progress, the link to it and when it started, so you can resume it
  • The first and last name read from your ID, so we can re-check the match if you correct your profile name
  • When verification was completed, and the last error if it failed

4.1 What we never receive or store

  • The image or scan of your ID document
  • Your ID or document number, your address or your date of birth from the ID
  • Your nationality as printed on the ID
  • Your selfie or any video recorded during the check
  • Any biometric data, such as face geometry or liveness signals

All of that stays with Didit, under its privacy policy.

5. Who can see what

5.1 You

You see your full status, the name we hold from your ID and any error message on your profile, and you can cancel and restart an unfinished verification at any time.

5.2 Other members

Other members see only the ID verified badge, and only if you completed verification. They never see your status detail, the name on your ID or any document. If you have not verified, nothing about verification is shown.

5.3 Global Crew Finder staff

Authorised administrators can see your verification status and the name we hold so they can help with support, for example when a name does not match. The platform owner can also open Didit's dashboard, where the document and selfie you sent to Didit can be viewed. That access is used only to run the service or to help a member who is stuck, and it is governed by Didit's own retention rules. We do not copy those images into our systems.

5.4 Didit

Didit holds the document, the selfie and the biometric check under its own privacy policy and retention rules. We cannot retrieve that data ourselves.

5.5 Nobody else

We do not share verification data with advertisers, marketing partners, data brokers or analytics providers. The only exception is a legal requirement to disclose information to a competent authority, as described in our Privacy Policy.

6. How long we keep it

Our verification record (section 4) is kept while your account exists and is deleted when you delete your account. A session link is dropped as soon as the session ends. The document and biometric data held by Didit follow Didit's own retention period, and are not removed automatically when you close your account with us. If you want them removed from Didit as well, contact us at admin@globalcrewfinder.com and we will pass your request on.

We process our verification record because it is in our legitimate interest to keep the platform safe and trustworthy, and to provide the verification you chose to start. For the document and biometric data, Didit processes them under its own legal basis, usually the consent you give on its verification screen.

7. Your rights

The data protection rights described in our Privacy Policy apply to your verification data, including access, correction and erasure. To exercise them against Didit directly, contact us at admin@globalcrewfinder.com and we will help you reach Didit's data protection contact.

8. Stuck or have a question?

If the verification page does not open, a step fails or your name does not match, write to admin@globalcrewfinder.com and we will help you finish. Verification is there to help every member trust the crew they sail with. We collect only what we need, and you stay in control of your data.